State Budget Deficit Might Result in Termination of 2,000 Private Prison Beds

The Texas budget plan includes closing 2,000 places in private prisons and more than 1,500 job losses.

And according to Scott at Grits for Breakfast, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) budget summary outlines 1.3% of spending in the current fiscal year. However, according to the TDCJ budget summary, it seems that these cuts may be to treatment prison beds and not hard prison beds.  The cuts mentioned involve beds in substance abuse and intermediate sanction facilities.  

These are still prisons that require many low-level, non-violent prisoners to be away from their families and communities. However, if law makers really want to reduce corrections spending they should be exploring opportunities for sentencing reform that continue to reduce the number of people who enter into Texas prisons and their length of stay.

We will continue to monitor the budget's impact on private prison capacity as it develops.