Tag Archives: jail overcrowding

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 →

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We’re still not bonding out enough people

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure this will make a lot of people uncomfortable. More than 15,000 people were collared in Harris County for misdemeanors in the final months of 2010, but 70 percent of white inmates were released on bond before trial, compared … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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How much would you pay for those inmates?

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Harris County has a new plan for dealing with its overflow jail population. Under the new plan, the county’s purchasing agent would ask for all interested bidders to submit their lowest prices for taking inmates, much like it does for … Continue reading →

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The county’s budget woes

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Don’t look now, but Harris County is running really low on cash. The $154 million reserve fund Harris County started its fiscal year with is expected to be nearly gone by March as it gets spent to cover shortfalls in … Continue reading →

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Bad building design

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I have two questions about this story, which is about the poor design of the Harris County Criminal Justice Center downtown. Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos calls the building at 1201 Franklin “the most poorly designed criminal justice center … Continue reading →

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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 →

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Grits visits the Harris County jail

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a thoughtful post by Scott Henson on his visit to the Harris County jail and the proposed booking center, which was touted as a gateway primarily for arrestees with mental health issues. While acknowledging the need for more resources … Continue reading →

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Eversole and Radack get jail overcrowding religion

Posted on June 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Actually, what County Commissioners Jerry Eversole and Steve Radack have is a case of criticize-the-Sheriff-itis. Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole implied at meeting earlier today that the county’s sheriff, Adrian Garcia, acted improperly and wasted tax payer money when he … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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HPD and HFD overtime

Posted on April 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As is the case with the Harris County Sheriff’s office, the Houston Police Department and Houston Fire Department spend a lot of money on overtime. A Houston Chronicle analysis shows that most of the money — $50 million — went … Continue reading →

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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 →

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Fixing overtime

Posted on April 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Sunday Chron had a cover story about overtime expenses in the Sheriff’s department. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office spent $32.6 million on overtime in Sheriff Adrian Garcia’s first year as the county’s top lawman, $22.6 million of it at … Continue reading →

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First steps in dealing with jail overcrowding

Posted on April 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

They’re baby steps, but they’re in the right direction. The first of 20 county inmates to get their sentences reduced by two-thirds for completing job training will get out of jail Monday. The experiment marks Sheriff Adrian Garcia’s first tentative … Continue reading →

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Here comes the county budget

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Considering how gloom-and-doomy the reports have been, this is downright sunny. Commissioners Court today will consider a $1.4 billion budget that cuts spending by about 3.2 percent from the fiscal year that ended on Feb. 28. The spending blueprint does … Continue reading →

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A county budget threefer

Posted on February 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Three items of interest in the news that relate to the Harris County budget. – Contemplating cremation Commissioners Court this morning discussed possibly changing to a cremate-first policy at Harris County’s public cemetery. A report from the cemetery director projects … Continue reading →

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The county budget blues

Posted on February 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The news keeps being bad. Not unexpected, but bad. During hearings last month, department heads said worst-case scenarios could mean layoffs, less mosquito spraying, tax office closures and fewer resources to serve a still-growing county population. County Auditor Barbara Schott’s … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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Quan officially files

Posted on December 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I had lunch today at the Post Oak Grill on Milam so I could be there for Gordon Quan’s official announcement that he is running for Harris County Judge. In fact, as Martha noted, he submitted his paperwork and paid … Continue reading →

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Getting smarter about crime, state prison edition

Posted on December 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news on the criminal justice front. Texas has a new swagger that comes from a recently released U.S. Justice Department report showing the growth of the state’s prison population is slowing to the extent that three new prisons … Continue reading →

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Getting smarter about crime

Posted on December 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The news that Harris County DA Pat Lykos has changed the office’s policy to no longer will file state jail felony charges against suspects found with only a trace of drugs is good news indeed. Lykos said the move “gives … Continue reading →

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Putting prisoners to work

Posted on December 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This sounds like a pretty good idea to me. Harris County Commissioner El Franco Lee has proposed that the county consider putting more prisoners to work cleaning local bayous and parks. The plan would give working inmates three days’ credit … Continue reading →

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Bernstein responds to “Jail Misery”

Posted on December 9, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I guess I missed this one, but on November 19, the Houston Press published a story called Jail Misery by Randall Patterson that was about Monte Killian, an HIV-positive person who had recently spent time in the Harris County jail. … Continue reading →

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More back and forth on the latest jail proposal

Posted on November 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Grits argues that the latest proposal to build a new processing center for the jail would result in a tax increase because of the need to hire more staff, which is not accounted for in the bonds. The Chron wonders … Continue reading →

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Sheriff to try again for new jail facility

Posted on November 22, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Sheriff Adrian Garcia wants to take another crack at building a new jail facility. As was the case in 2007, when a referendum to float bonds for a new jail was voted down, this too would be voted on by … Continue reading →

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County to move forward on mental health center for inmates

Posted on October 15, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This sounds good. Harris County officials agreed Tuesday to establish a “reintegration center” to reduce the revolving door of mentally ill and homeless prisoners who are a major factor in chronic overcrowding at the county jails. The discussion of the … Continue reading →

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