Tag Archives: jails

Still talking about jail overcrowding

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s another op-ed about jail overcrowding in Harris County and what to do about it. It’s all familiar stuff – we’ve only been talking about this for a million years or so – but I was struck by what wasn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The mental health catastrophe is coming

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s yet another story about the forthcoming disaster in mental health care that is about to be perpetuated by the Legislature. It starts with one of the best analogies I’ve seen: Dr. Steven B. Schnee, executive director of the Mental … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The mental health catastrophe is coming

Jail privatization

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Does anyone really think that privatizing the Harris County Jail would be a good idea? The suggestion comes from Commissioner Steve Radack, who said the item is a way for the county to examine all ways of cutting costs as … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Harris County gets ready for the shaft

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

One of the ways in which the state will attempt to address its budget shortfall is by shortchanging counties – cutting reimbursements, raiding funds, and the like. Having already decimated its own budget, Harris County is preparing for further indignities. … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

When cutting the budget increases your costs

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From the deja vu all over again department. Texas legislators, looking for ways to plug an estimated $15 billion to $27 billion budget hole, are considering proposals that would cut as much as $162 million from rehabilitation and treatment programs … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on When cutting the budget increases your costs

Sugar Land seeks someone to develop prison land

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I hope they get their wish. Sugar Land city officials hope to convert a 330-acre state prison property into a light industrial business park and are looking for private partners for the development. The tract, which sits adjacent to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Harris County pleads its case to the state

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Grits ran into some Harris County officials in Austin the other day and got some information from them about their lobbying efforts with the Lege. Not too surprisingly, it’s mostly focused on mental health services. Harris Couty is primarily worried … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Here comes Harris County’s budget

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s as bad as you’d expect. A budget on its way to Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday would cut $138 million from current spending on roads, inoculating against disease, promoting economic development, constables’ patrols and performing other services. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why aren’t we tracking this?

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This sounds like a job for the Legislature. The number of parolees being tracked with ankle monitors in Texas has mushroomed to nearly 3,000 in the last two years. About 600 reside in Harris County. The county also has 150 … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Why aren’t we tracking this?

Ankle monitors

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Also on the Commissioners Court agenda this week, Harris County will take another small step towards reducing its jail population by experimenting with ankle monitors for low-risk inmates. Commissioners Court granted Sheriff Adrian Garcia permission Tuesday to do a trial … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Closing prisons needs to be on the table

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From Change.org: Texas’ prison population is shrinking. The state has made great strides in recent years to offer community alternatives to long sentences. But with a budget crisis looming, state prison officials are saying they won’t consider closing a single … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

On county jails and treating mental illness

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There’s really only one thing that needs to be said about this op-ed, which was co-written by Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia and HPD Chief Charles McClelland. Texas ranks 49th in the nation in per capita spending on mental health … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on On county jails and treating mental illness

Where the state cuts meet the local budgets

Posted on December 24, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Via Grits, an editorial in the Longview News-Journal of interest: Routine mental health services were the first to fall during the 2003 budget crisis, which was preceded by pre-session cuts the fall and summer of 2002. East Texas mental health … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

State cuts will equal local costs

Posted on December 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Grits is absolutely right: Cuts to state mental hospitals would be a massive unfunded mandate for county jails. [S]heriffs across Texas are increasingly frustrated and worried about the ever-decreasing amount of bed space available at state mental hospitals. Too often, … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The cost of jailing parole violators

Posted on December 14, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

We sure do spend a lot of money putting people in jail that don’t really need to be there. Each month, an average of 2,286 state parole violators are housed in Texas jails, a policy costing taxpayers at least $42 … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The cost of jailing parole violators

It’s getting cheaper to outsource inmates

Posted on December 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Now how much would you pay to ship your excess inmates somewhere else? The county now can send an inmate to Louisiana for as low as $23 a day. Changes to the deal with the private Emerald Correctional Management also … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on It’s getting cheaper to outsource inmates

Pretrial services

Posted on December 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting story about one of the many ways the county’s budget shortfall is manifesting itself. With the blessing of the county attorney’s office, Harris County Pretrial Services has stopped supervising inmates let out of jail on bail, forcing bail bondsmen … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Pretrial services

The county’s financial picture is pretty grim, too

Posted on November 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This, too, is ugly. County budget officials are looking for more than $130 million in spending cuts for the fiscal year that begins on March 1. Budget officials and county government department chiefs have three months to come up with … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Grits on the CCSI

Posted on July 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Scott Henson got the same information I did about the HPD “Chronic Consumer Stabilization Initiative” pilot program, and as always his take is worth reading. In that post, he pointed to this Malcolm Gladwell article that puts this initiative into … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Grits on the CCSI

More on the proposed booking center

Posted on June 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

On the Houston Politics blog, Chris Moran follows up on his reporting about the new “booking center” proposal with information about how it may play out in Commissioners Court. The city of Houston has designated $31 million to help fund … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

New “booking center” proposed

Posted on June 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, Sheriff Garcia has been trying to rework the jail bond referendum that failed in 2007 into something that can be passed. On Tuesday, Commissioners Court will have a look at the new proposal, which calls for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The cheapest jail cell is the one you don’t use

Posted on June 15, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry, Newton County. Commissioners Steve Radack and Jerry Eversole held up renewal of a contract with Newton County on Tuesday, and suggested that Harris County needs to do more to get the cheapest possible jail beds. “If the dollars are … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on The cheapest jail cell is the one you don’t use

Some budget cuts can be a force for good

Posted on June 6, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

If there’s one place where something good can come out of the current budget mess, it’s with the criminal justice system, where recent trends, economic realities, and the hard-won lessons of 2003 are contributing to an environment where good policies … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Some budget cuts can be a force for good

What happens to exonerees?

Posted on May 28, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

We know that quite a few people who had been in prison have been exonerated and freed in recent years, and we know that a fund was created by the Lege last year to give them some compensation for their … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on What happens to exonerees?

The 287(g) committee

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Sheriff Adrian Garcia has formed a citizens advisory panel on how to screen for undocumented immigrants in the jails. The advisory committee will not debate whether to continue the screening program, Garcia said. It will suggest ways he can improve … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Prison health care

Posted on May 14, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Just another dimension to the complex budget picture. An early casualty of impending state budget cuts could be the health care contract that serves most of Texas’ 154,000 prison convicts. Top officials at the University of Texas System, whose Galveston … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Prison health care

We will keep trying the same solutions until they work

Posted on May 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Speaker Straus says that all options are on the table for dealing with the budget shortfall, as long as we’re talking about spending cuts. The table isn’t big enough to accommodate any other kind of options. Straus, R-San Antonio, said … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jail passes another state inspection

Posted on May 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Good news for the Harris County jails: They passed another surprise state inspection by a Texas Commission on Jail Standards team last week. “This certificate of compliance is a direct result of your department’s commitment to excellence and further attests, … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Jail passes another state inspection

Counting inmates where they’re from, not where they’re incarcerated

Posted on April 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve noted before that prisoners in Texas are considered for Census purposes to be residents of the county in which they are incarcerated, not the county where they were actually living at the time of their arrest. This tends to … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Counting inmates where they’re from, not where they’re incarcerated

Solving the jail overcrowding problem is everybody’s responsibility

Posted on April 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Putting it another way, we need to be choosier about whom we arrest. The Houston Police Department stopped arresting people for minor traffic violations late Thursday, hours after Sheriff Adrian Garcia told the city to slow down the flow of … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Solving the jail overcrowding problem is everybody’s responsibility

If we must cut the budget, let’s be smart about it

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib remembers the last time the state of Texas had a huge budget hole, and how it made things worse in its attempt to deal with it. For some, it’s not too early to fret that lawmakers will balance … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo, Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Close the Sugar Land prison

Posted on January 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Grits has a question. Why not begin to close Texas’ oldest, most outdated prisons, particularly when locals would benefit from a “higher and better use” of the property and the state is looking to trim the budget? At the top … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Trying to spend less on the jails

Posted on January 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, Harris County has a budget shortfall, and in recent years has seen spending on the Sheriff’s department, driven largely be the costs of the overcrowded jails, exceed its budgeted amount by millions. For the upcoming fiscal year, … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Trying to spend less on the jails

There’s a fix for that

Posted on January 8, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, Harris County has a budget shortfall of its own to deal with. So the fact that the Sheriff’s Office is spending more than it was allotted is drawing some scrutiny. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office is projected … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments