Basic Facts

  

Parole & Reentry

  • Approximately 70,000 men and women are released from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) annually,1 while hundreds of thousands return from local jails.2
  • Five Texas counties – Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar, and Travis – account for approximately 50% of individuals released from prisons and state jails,3 and 47% of all individuals received by Texas counties are released without any supervision requirements.4
  • The parole system oversees the approximately 81,000 individuals who are currently being supervised in the community after having left confinement.5
  • As of August 2010, more than 63,000 individuals were on parole for nonviolent offenses.6
  • Parole revocation rates for parolees with active cases fell from 12.2% in 2001 to 8.2% in 2010.7
  • On average, parole costs the state $3.74 per person per day,8 vs. $51 per day for a prison bed.9 In other words, the cost of 10 days in prison is equal to nearly 5 months on parole.
  • An increase of just 2% in the parole approval rate by the Parole Board translates into approximately 1,500 additional parole releases per year and an annual savings of almost $26 million.10
  • Only 6% of the state’s annual $3 billion corrections budget goes towards the parole system and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP).11
  • A criminal record greatly limits a person’s access to jobs, housing, services, etc.

Conditions of Confinement

  • The Windham School District (WSD) is an in-prison entity that provides educational and vocational programming for TDCJ inmates. Recent budget cuts totaled $17.8 million, or 27% of its total budget per year of the biennium, resulting in the loss of 157 teachers. General Educational Development (GED) classes were totally eliminated from 6 facilities, and they were significantly reduced at 19 additional units. Ultimately, WSD estimates that 16,700 individuals will lose their seats in TDCJ classrooms as a result of the cuts.

    In 2010, WSD provided educational services of some kind to 77,000 TDCJ inmates. Of the 71,000 individuals released in 2010, more than 12,000 received a GED or attended college while in prison.12

  • Mental health treatment providers are scarce in most Texas prison units. As of December 2011, over 40 of the 113 facilities (including 12 private contract facilities) listed on TDCJ’s directory had no psychiatric professionals on site, though some units have a maximum capacity of more than 1,300 inmates; nine units (including two private contract facilities) had only one psychiatric professional for more than 1,000 inmates.13
  • In FY 2010 alone, TDCJ inmates filed 217,177 grievances through the Offender Grievance Program, an increase from the previous fiscal year.14
  • In 2011, TDCJ housed 8,784 prisoners15 – over 5% of its total prison and jail population16 – in administrative segregation, where inmates spend all but one hour per day confined in a small cell with little or no human contact, denied participation in rehabilitation, education, and religious programming, and deprived of contact visits with other individuals. This is compared to a national average of 1-2% of individuals in correctional administrative segregation.17 The average length of stay in administrative segregation in Texas is 3.2 years.18

    Over 75% of prisoners being held in segregation in Texas facilities are there not because of proven threats to prison security or for having broken a disciplinary rule, but because of alleged membership in one of the 12 Security Threat Groups (i.e., gangs).19

    In 2011, nearly 25% of individuals in administrative segregation had a mental health or mental retardation diagnosis.20

1 Texas Department of Criminal Justice, “Statistical Report, Fiscal Year 2010,” p. 3.

2 Texas Department of Criminal Justice, “H.B. 1711 Implementation Report,” Submitted to Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House, Senate Criminal Justice & House Corrections Committees, Sep. 1, 2010, p. 4: “One million plus off enders are processed in local jails on an annual basis.”

3 “TDCJ FY 2011 Release Data”; these 5 counties received 31,963 of 64,355 individuals (49.7%). Data available upon request.

4 “TDCJ FY 2011 Release Data”; 30,520 of 64,355 individuals were discharged, while 33,835 were released to supervision. Data available upon request.

5 Texas Department of Criminal Justice, “Statistical Report, Fiscal Year 2010,” p. 4.

6 Texas Department of Criminal Justice, “Statistical Report, Fiscal Year 2010,” p. 4.

7 LBB, “Statewide Criminal Justice Recidivism and Revocation Rates: Submitted to the 82nd Texas Legislature,” Jan. 2011, p. 32. See also: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, “Self Evaluation Report: Submitted to the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission,” Aug. 31, 2011, p. 44.

8 Legislative Budget Board, “Criminal Justice Uniform Cost Report: Fiscal Years (FY) 2008-2010: Submitted to the 82nd Texas Legislature,” Jan. 2011, p. 10; FY 2010 costs per day per individual for active supervision total $3.74.

9 Legislative Budget Board, “Criminal Justice Uniform Cost Report: Fiscal Years (FY) 2008-2010: Submitted to the 82nd Texas Legislature,” Jan. 2011, p. 20; FY 2010 system-wide costs per day per bed total $50.79.

10 Marc Levin, “Texas Criminal Justice Reform: Lower Crime, Lower Cost,” Center for Effective Justice – Texas Public Policy Foundation, Jan. 2010, p. 2. See also: Legislative Budget Board, “Criminal Justice Uniform Cost Report: Fiscal Years (FY) 2008-2010: Submitted to the 82nd Texas Legislature,” Jan. 2011, pp.3, 10 (using FY 2010 average system-wide prison costs-per-day-per-bed of $50.79 and parole per person costs-per-day of $3.74; 1,500 parolees would save the state $25,759,875 annually).

11 Texas Department of Criminal Justice, “Agency Operating Budget 2012: as prepared for the Texas Board of Criminal Justice,” Aug. 19, 2011, pp. 4, 5; available at http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/documents/finance/Agency_Operating_Budget_FY… “Board of Pardons and Paroles” totals $25,398,010 (1%), while “Operate Parole System” totals $155,561,513 (5%); these include revocation processing, parole release processing, parole supervision, halfway house facilities, and Intermediate Sanction Facilities.

12 Cody Stark, “Windham School Cutbacks Reduce Staff, Programs for Inmates,” Huntsville Item, Sep. 4, 2011; available at http://itemonline.com/local/x1642540258/Windham-school-cutbacks-reduce-s….

13 Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) lists 113 facilities (some facilities may serve dual purposes or be listed twice) on its directory, 18 of which are private (adult) facilities, and 3 of with are intermediate sanction facilities (parole confinement facilities). TDCJ is responsible for monitoring and oversight of private contract facilities (those privately operated). This data excludes the Hospital facility at Galveston. Units with 0 contract psychiatric employees include Briscoe, Cotulla, Dalhart, Duncan, Formby, Fort Stockton, Glossbrenner, Goodman, Halbert, Havins, Johnston, Jordan, Kegans, Marlin, Moore, C., Ney, Roach, Rudd, Sanchez, San Saba, Sayle, Scott, Stevenson, Torres, Tulia, Vance, Wallace, Ware, Wheeler, and the Baten Intermediate Sanction Facility. Private contract facilities with 0 contract psychiatric employees include both Bridgeport facilities, Cleveland, Diboll, Estes, Kyle, Lockhart, Mineral Wells, Moore, B., Willacy County, and both the South and West Texas Intermediate Sanction Facilities. Units with 1 contract psychiatric employee include Daniel, Hamilton, Hightower, Hilltop (all female), Lynaugh, Powledge, and Segovia. Private Contract Facilities with 1 contract psychiatric employee include East Texas (co-gender), and Lindsey. Data collected from Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Unit Directory; http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/unit_directory/index.html.

14 The Texas Department of Criminal Justice – Administrative Review & Risk Management Division, “Offender Grievance Program: Pamphlet,” Revised Sep. 1, 2010, p. 2; available at

http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/documents/Offender_Grievance_pamphlet_Englis….

15 Data gleaned from TDCJ Response to Open Records Request, “Administrative Segregation,” Dec. 12, 2011. Data available upon request.

16 Total population number of 141,087 prison and 11,528 state jail (152,615 total) based on May 31, 2011 statistics as reported to Sunset Advisory Commission. Texas Department of Criminal Justice, “Self Evaluation Report: Submitted to the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission,” Aug. 31, 2011, pp. 54-55. See also: Data gleaned from TDCJ Response to Open Records Request, “Administrative Segregation,” Dec. 12, 2011. Data available upon request.

17 James Austin and Emmitt Sparkman, “Colorado Department of Corrections Administrative Segregation and Classification Review,” National Institute of Corrections, Oct. 2011, http://www.ccjrc.org/pdf/2011_Solitary_Confinement_Report.pdf.

18 Data gleaned from TDCJ Response to Open Records Request, “Administrative Segregation,” Dec. 12, 2011. Data available upon request.

19 National Survey of the Management of High-Risk Inmates, National Institute of Corrections, 2002.

20 Data gleaned from TDCJ Response to Open Records Request, “Administrative Segregation,” Dec. 12, 2011. Data available upon request.