Texas Prison Bid'ness

After a lawsuit, a review and estimate, a cancelled bond vote, two potential locations, and many other small battles, the Grayson County debate over whether or not to privatize their downtown jail or build another, separate private facility was given an answer by County Judge Drue Bynum on February 24th. In September, Bynum was one of the four who voted affirmatively to hold a bond vote to the public, a bond vote that was very ambiguous and eventually thrown out.

Last week, a press conference held by Bynum yielded this information ("Grayson County Jail bond election cancelled," KXII, 24 February, 2010):

Judge Drue Bynum says enough is enough, and at a press conference today he said a bond issue to build a public jail is now also off the table. The future of the Grayson County jail is a seemingly never ending debate.

"This has become a volatile issue," said Judge Drue Bynum... "...I have heard from the people, they are tired of wrestling this bear, we have been dealing with this issue since 2001," said Judge Bynum.

The jail does need major renovations, but according to Commissioner Gene Short, The County is scheduled to pay off several debts in the coming months, freeing up money that can go toward remodeling the existing facility, without raising taxes...

..."We need to get past this and get a jail that is downtown, close to the courts, and is run by the Sheriff," said Magers. While getting a new jail built was the goal of many county leaders, Judge Bynum says the cost has become too high to continue. "We have got to figure out how to make lemonade out of lemons, and I am not going to go forward with an idea or an agenda at the sake of splitting this county open," said Bynum. 

Because the county has yet to say definitively that they won't build a private prison, the debate is technically still alive.  Still, the Commissioners have made a choice to not build a new jail (public or private) until they renovate their existing jail and pay off some outstanding debt. After that task is accomplished, it is still possible that they could build a new private facility. What is known is that there will not be a new jail at all until the aforementioned goals are reached. However, I imagine that if a new jail is built in the coming years, that it will be a public prison "run by the Sheriff" rather than run by a company.

This was a good choice by the Judge and Commissioners. Paying off their existing debt is the responsible action to take, rather than forcing through a private jail project. It was a rocky road to come to this decision, and I would bet that the privatization topic will arise again within the next few years once tempers have fallen. However, a congratulations is due to the people and officials of Grayson County for finding a responsible plan to jail renovation rather than constructing a new, privately-operated facility with the thinking that it will bring in jobs and money at no cost to the county. 

We will keep our eyes open for any new developments in the months and years to come.

On Monday, the Grayson County Commissioners met for their usual Monday hearing in which they discussed their downtown Sherman jail. Last year the jail was the topic of a heated controversy revolving around whether or not the facility should be privatized.

The county eventually dropped the idea of privatization and doing anything to the facility until now. Hale-Mills, a Houston-based construction company that specializes in building jails, is no stranger to constructing facilities surrounded in controversy. Most notably, MTC's tent-based Willacy County Detention Center that has been surrounded in controversy, and Hardin, Montana's never-used Two Rivers Detention Center that left the city broke after Corplan Corrections advisers encouraged the construction of the facility based on the perceived success in Willacy County.

While Hale-Mills has nothing to do with how or if the facility is privatately managed, I find it interesting because Grayson County is in a similar position as Hardin was. From reading the minutes of yesterday's meeting, however, it seems as though Grayson County is not considering a private operator at this time, but rather remodeling the existing facility instead of constructing an entirely new private facility. Hale-Mills was present at the hearing, and presented three options to the commissioners to consider:

1. Upgrade the existing facility and electronic control systems to bring the facility into compliance with the state Jail Commission for an estimated cost of $4.5 million dollars. 
2. To include option one and reconfigure the sallyport, intake and processing areas by adding onto the back of the building at a cost of $9.2- $9.75 million dollars.
3. To include options one and two and the expansion within the city block to add 337 additional beds to the existing 239 beds for a total of 576 beds at a cost of $18.5 to  $19.25 million dollars.

It appears that option three is the choice most likely to be presented in the form of a bond vote to Grayson County citizens, according to a report by local Sherman news. Let's hope that if this option does go to a vote it will be more comprehensive than their last attempt and that it will not leave room for a private operator. We will keep you informed of any official decisions made by Grayson County commissioners.

Kathy Williams reports that Grayson County's jail bond election is canceled, and County Judge Drue Bynum's desire to build a new private jail may be squelched. From the Sherman Herald-Democrat ("Grayson County jail bond election canceled; entire process could begin anew", Sep. 10):

There will be no Grayson County Jail bond election Nov. 3. County Judge Drue Bynum said Thursday he also holds little hope of getting a privately built and operated jail approved. So Grayson County will begin anew the process of deciding what to do with an aging jail and future inmate populations.

The Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas (CLEAT) indicated on Wednesday it would file a lawsuit challenging the legality of the entire Grayson County Commissioners Court meeting that occurred on August 31 in state district court. Andrew wrote last week that Grayson County approved a November public jail bond election at that meeting, but Commisioners were hedging their bets on the bond proposal. On August 31, commissioners also approved several items that would have moved privatization of the County 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 Southwest Correctional to build and operate the Grayson County Jail (for more on Public Facility Corporations, check out Considering a Private Jail, Prison or Detention Center? A Resource Packet for Community Members and Public Officials).

According to CLEAT, the County Commissioners Court violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by posting its August 31 agenda at least one minute short of the 72-hour advance notice required by law. If CLEAT won a declaratory judgment against Grayson, the County Commissioners Court would have to void all actions taken during the August 31 meeting. This would require the county to postpone any jail bond election until May of 2010.

County Judge Drue Bynum, who indicated to the Herald-Democrat on Wednesday that he was ready to confront the legal challenge from CLEAT, conceded Thursday that the Commissioners Court did, in fact, violate the Texas Open Meetings Act.

From the Herald Democrat:

As much as I hate to acknowledge it, we were late and we didn't meet the letter of the law. I think we certainly met the spirit," Bynum said in a telephone interview. "I am willing to void the entire 31 Aug. agenda. ... Obviously we won't need to ratify the entire bond election, because it's too late for that. Bynum said the Court will have to discuss Monday where to go from here on the jail issue.

We'll be following developments from Grayson County closely.

A special note-- Kathy Williams at the Sherman Herald Democrat deserves our high-praise for doing such a stellar job of reporting on the Grayson County Jail saga. Thanks, from all of us at Texas Prison Bid'ness!

Related:

• Southwestern Correctional has major problems in Burnet; Are Grayson Commissioners watching? (Sept. 4, 2009)
• Grayson County's Decision to Privatize Goes to Public Vote (Sept. 3, 2009)
• Considering a Private Jail, Prison or Detention Center? Grassroots Leadership Releases Updated Guide for Community Members and Public Officials (Sept. 3, 2009)
• Sherman's Fight Against Proposed Private Prison (Aug. 28, 2009)
• Grayson Commissioners sidestep voters with privatization scheme (July 23, 2009)

On Tuesday, Grassroots Leadership released the 2009 edition of Considering a Private Jail, Prison or Detention Center? A Resource Packet for Community Members and Public Officials.

The report is intended to serve as a resource for public officials, community members, journalists, and policy-makers in Texas who are faced with building, financing, or operating a private prison, jail, or detention center.

The release of the updated guide coincides with a heated debate over jail privatization in Grayson County, which Andrew and I have been writing about (see the links at bottom of this post for more background). We sent a press release to the Herald Democrat, and we hope public officials in Grayson will read the report before moving forward with a proposed private jail.

Grassroots Leadership first published Considering a Private Jail, Prison or Detention Center in 2005. Bob, Andrew and I worked together to compile the latest edition. From our press release (PDF):

Grassroots Leadership’s updated Resource Packet analyzes the economic impact of private prisons on Texas communities, offers alternatives to prison expansion, and compares the safety and conditions at private and government run prisons.

The guide includes a review of recent research on the economic impact of prison expansion by attorney and independent criminal justice policy analyst, Michele Deitch. Deitch states that, “The research concludes, quite stunningly, that prisons have no measurable positive impact on economic growth, and may even slow growth in some communities.”

Compared to public facilities, for-profit private prisons and jails have significantly higher rates of staff turnover, higher rates of escape, and higher rates of assault. For-profit prison companies train new hires inadequately and drive experienced jailers out of work by paying them wages as low as fast-food restaurants and grocery store chains. The report says that private prisons are associated with inadequate protection of prisoners’ human rights, degrading prison conditions, and poor employment standards.

We will occasionally refer back to Considering a Private Jail? in future posts, and we'll also be posting sections of the report. We hope you'll take a look!

Previous Posts on Grayson's Proposed Private Jail:

• Sherman's Fight Against Proposed Private Prison (August 28, 2009)
• Grayson Commissioners sidestep voters with privatization scheme (July 23, 2009)