Texas Prison Bid'ness

Our pal Scott at Grits for Breakfast, posted a list of private prison contract term obligations earlier this month.  Grits post was further exploration of a story we posted a few weeks ago regarding the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDC) looking to terminate private prison contracts.  Scott adds this analysis:

A couple of notable contracts stand out as potential candidates for cuts. For starters, the Mineral Wells facility was the one unit state Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire is interested in closing, and for security reasons, not because of the budget. The contract for that troubled facility ends conveniently around a month after the next legislative session starts, meaning there's a lot of time for budget pressures to build between now and then. What's more, the Board of Pardons and Parole hasn't really been using the Mineral Wells facility the way it was intended, so there's no special reason to keep it opened compared to, say, Intermediate Sanctions Facilities on the list.

Equally interesting to me is the fact that the Dawson State Jail's contract with Corrections Corporation of America is up for renewal next January. This ill-placed facility is located in downtown Dallas on the banks of the Trinity River in prime real estate the city hopes to redevelop. So the fact that Dawson's contract ends on January 15, 2011 is a significant date for the city of Dallas: If the state renews the contract, the proposed riverfront redevelopment could be put on hold indefinitely. It's possible, then, we may see members of the Dallas delegation and related development interests pushing for non-renewal, though certainly CCA will have its own lobbyists on the other side.

Hopefully, lawmakers will continue to consider the possibility of terminating contracts as they figure out what to do with unused prison beds.

There is one fact that may impact prison capacity over the coming years – like other states -- Texas is dealing with serious budget problems. The Governor has issued his typical mandate -- asking state agencies to find ways to reduce their budgets by five-percent.  Additionally, legislative leaders in the state House and the Senate have suggested that closing prisons is definitely on the table as they work to manage the state’s correction budget.

"Closing prisons? It's absolutely on the table," said House Corrections Committee Chairman Jim McReynolds of Lufkin. "As tight as our budget situation looks, we cannot unravel the fledgling system of diversion and treatment programs that are paying big dividends now for the states. And there's only one other place to look prison operations."

The state's pending budget shortfall in 2011 may result in the closure of the privately run units.  Senator John Whitmire, who chairs the Criminal Justice Committee, has specifically mentioned the Mineral Wells lockup which is managed by the Corrections Corporation of America.

In recent weeks, Whitmire has publicly suggested that the state consider closing the privately run, 2,100-bed Mineral Wells Unit and perhaps aging prisons that are much more expensive to operate and maintain than newer ones.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice submitted their plan for reducing the agency’s annual budget to the Governor.  The plan does not call for the closing of prison units – private or otherwise.  Rather the focus on cutting costs targets eliminating job positions and reallocating the community supervision funding that was appropriated in 2007 and has contributed to the flat prison population that makes closing prisons a possibility. 

However, according to an analysis by The Statesman, some $10.7 million in funding for 817 beds in privately run prisons would be eliminated, reducing the state’s prison capacity. 

Advocates that promote alternatives to incarceration are asking agency officials and state policymakers to close prisons rather than reduce community corrections funding. 

Looks like this may shape up to be quite a battle in the 2011 legislature.  Time will tell if there is political viability that will lead in the actual closing of state prison units.  We will keep y’all posted as talks develop. 

Another year has passed here at Texas Prison Bid'ness, and what an exciting year it has been. As we have done in the past, the bloggers here at TPB would like to recap our favorite or perhaps the most memorable stories/topics over the past year.  Over the next few days, we'll be posting 2009's top five stories related to private prisons.

While the private prison industry continues to grow, several Texas communities said no to private prison sitings in Texas this year. This is the third biggest TPB story of 2009. 

 #3 Private prison proposals defeated in Texas communities

1. Emerald pushes Mineral Wells detention center three times in 2009... 

In Mineral Wells, private prison corporation Emerald Corrections first approached the city about building a speculative immigrant detention center in early 2009.  The company met tough opposition by local businesses and community members, who argued that the economic expense was too great for any benefits the community might receive.  The proposal was withdrawn, but not for long.  Emerald's second proposal for a private detention center was rejected when a motion to continue negotiations with the company died for lack of a second after city leaders balked at being asked to finance the prison through revenue bonds.  The company was not to be deterred however, and is moving into 2010 with yet a third private detention center proposal under negotiations. Emerald also had two similar speculative prison proposals defeated in Caldwell County last year.

2) CLEAT and community opposition defeat Southwestern jail in Grayson County...

In September, we reported that Grayson County's jail bond election had been canceled, and efforts to build a new Southwestern Correctional jail may have been squelched.  The move was a major victory for the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas (CLEAT) and other opponents of jail privatization.  CLEAT had indicated that it would file a lawsuit challenging the legality of the Grayson County Commissioners Court meeting that occurred on August 31.  In that meeting, Grayson County had approved a November public jail bond election at that meeting, but Commisioners were hedging their bets on the bond proposal. They also approved several items that would have moved privatization of the jail forward, including a new public facilities corporation (PFC) that would have sidestepped voters by financing a private facility with revenue bonds, and the form of a contract with Southwestern Correctional to build and operate the Grayson County Jail.  While Grayson is still debating its jail's future, privatization does not seem the most likely option today. 

3) Feds Reject Proposed MTC Prison in Nacogdoches

Emerald Corrections has come back to the city of Mineral Wells for a third time in an attempt to construct a 500-1000 bed speculative detention center.  This time, on a divided vote, the city council approved negotiations with the prison company.  According to the Mineral Wells Index ("Emerald receptive to negotiations," December 3),

The project to bring an immigration detention facility to Mineral Wells began moving ahead again Wednesday after the city council gave the go ahead Tuesday night.

Less than two months after the same agenda item failed for lack of support, the city council approved a resolution Tuesday night authorizing the Mineral Wells Local Government Corporation to continue negotiations with Emerald Correctional Management to build a detention facility in Mineral Wells.

Steve Butcher of the Industrial Foundation told the Index Wednesday afternoon the project seems to be moving ahead again.

As we've reported, Emerald has been rebuffed in Mineral Wells twice.  Locals were concerned about the placement of the first proposed facility near a business district, and then balked at Emerald asking the city to finance a prison the second time.  At that time, not two months ago, Emerald had this to say:

“That’s a pretty clear message that the city council has no interest in doing this project,” Steve Afeman, chief operating officer of Emerald, said Wednesday morning. “We’re not about to go back.”

I guess that sentiment didn't last long.  Contacts in Mineral Wells tell me that this fight is far from over.  Well keep you posted on the private prison debate in Mineral Wells. 

See our previous coverage:

• Emerald's bid for Mineral Wells detention center dead for a second time, October 8, 2009
• Mineral Wells rejects Emerald detention center financing deal, October 7, 2009
• DHS to announce new reorganization plans; Will Mineral Wells move forward with Emerald's supposed ICE detention center?, October 6, 2009
• Emerald proposes second site in Mineral Wells for supposed ICE detention center, May 20, 2009
• More opposition to Emerald's Mineral Wells detention center, April 8, 2009
• Emerald note giving up on Mineral Wells detention center, April 4, 2009
• Opposition emerges to Emerald detention center in Mineral Wells, March 25, 2009
• Emerald Corrections building new ICE detention center in Mineral Wells, February 6, 2009