Basic Facts

  
  • Texas has 6 state secure facilities for youth.1 At the end of 2013, almost 1,100 young Texans were confined in these facilities.2 With each youth costing the state approximately $365 per day,3 the total comes to approximately $400,000 daily. Approximately 44% of the 818 new arrivals in 2013 were incarcerated for a nonviolent crime.4
  • Texas has 100 county juvenile facilities, including 51 pre-adjudication facilities and 34 post-adjudication facilities, as well as 3 holdover and 12 non-secure facilities.5 Approximately 6,000 youth were sent to county juvenile facilities following adjudication of their cases in 2013,6 costing the state $51 per youth per day.7
  • Approximately 9,600 youth were adjudicated to probation but not placed in facilities in 2013,8 costing the state $9.58 to $9.96 per youth per day.9
  • Approximately 752 youth left state facilities on parole in 2013,10 at a cost of $31.56 per youth per day.11
  • There were 207 youth (ages 14-16) certified as adults in 2013; approximately 25% were certified for a nonviolent offense.12

1 Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD), TJJD Facilities Address List, “Institutions”; available at http://www.tjjd.texas.gov/aboutus/facilities.aspx.

2 Legislative Budget Board, “Adult and Juvenile Correctional Populations: Monthly Report (April),” p. 3; actual number of youth in state institutions is 1,088 as of the end of December 2013; available at http://www.lbb.state.tx.us/Documents/Publications/Info_Graphic/812_Monthly_Report_April_2014.pdf [Residential Populations: “Institutions”].

3 Legislative Budget Board (LBB), “Criminal Justice Uniform Cost Report, Fiscal Years 2010-2012,” Submitted to the 83rd Texas Legislature, January 2013, p. 20; FY 2012 costs per day per youth at state-operated facilities total $366.88; available at http://www.lbb.state.tx.us/Public_Safety_Criminal_Justice/Uniform_Cost/Criminal%20Justice%20Uniform%20Cost%20Report%20Fiscal%20Years%202010%20to%202012.pdf.

4 Freya Gaertner, Research Specialist IV, Texas Juvenile Justice Department, in email to Jennifer Carreon, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, May 28, 2014.

5 Texas Juvenile Justice Department, Registered Juvenile Facilities in Texas; available at http://www.tjjd.texas.gov/publications/other/searchfacilityregistry.aspx.

6 Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD), “Annual Report to the Governor and Legislative Budget Board: Juvenile Probation Appropriations, Riders and Special Diversion Programs,” December 2013, p. 17; available at http://www.tjjd.texas.gov/statistics/TJJD_Dec_LBB_Rider_Report_2013.pdf.

7 LBB, “Criminal Justice Uniform Cost Report,” p. 24; 2012 costs per day per youth at post-adjudication facilities total $51.00; available at http://www.lbb.state.tx.us/Public_Safety_Criminal_Justice/Uniform_Cost/Criminal%20Justice%20Uniform%20Cost%20Report%20Fiscal%20Years%202010%20to%202012.pdf.

8 TJJD, “Annual Report to the Governor and Legislative Budget Board,” pp. 13, 17; this figure was calculated by subtracting the number of youth in secure (3,473) and non-secure (2,512) post-adjudication residential placements (p. 17) from the number of “Juveniles (15,627) starting Probation Supervision” (p. 13), for a total of 9,642; available at http://www.tjjd.texas.gov/statistics/TJJD_Dec_LBB_Rider_Report_2013.pdf.

9 LBB, “Criminal Justice Uniform Cost Report,” p. 22; FY 2012 costs per day per youth for community supervision total $9.58 in state costs, while 2012 costs per day per youth for intensive supervision total $9.96 in state costs; available at http://www.lbb.state.tx.us/Public_Safety_Criminal_Justice/Uniform_Cost/Criminal%20Justice%20Uniform%20Cost%20Report%20Fiscal%20Years%202010%20to%202012.pdf.

10 Freya Gaertner, Research Specialist IV, Texas Juvenile Justice Department, in email to Jennifer Carreon, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, May 28, 2014.

11 LBB, “Criminal Justice Uniform Cost Report,” p. 20; 2012 costs per day per youth on parole supervision total $31.56 in state costs; available at http://www.lbb.state.tx.us/Public_Safety_Criminal_Justice/Uniform_Cost/Criminal%20Justice%20Uniform%20Cost%20Report%20Fiscal%20Years%202010%20to%202012.pdf..

12 Freya Gaertner, Research Specialist IV, Texas Juvenile Justice Department, in email to Jennifer Carreon, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, June 25, 2014.