Report: Female incarceration rising in Texas prisons
AUSTIN, Texas — Fifty-three-year-old Annette Price visits prisoners every week in hopes that sharing their stories gives them hope.
Reform group calls for action to lower growing number of women in prison
More women are finding themselves in Texas prisons and jails, and one criminal justice reform group is urging lawmakers and local officials to enact policies to stop that trend.
New Report Shows Growing Number of Women in Texas Prisons and Jails
Today, TCJC released part one of a two-part report series on women in Texas prisons and jails. A Growing Population: The Surge of Women into Texas’ Criminal Justice System examines the staggering rise in the number of women in Texas’ justice system and makes recommendations for programs and policies that can reverse this trend and effectively redirect women away from incarceration.
Read the rest of this press release here.
San Antonio, Dallas Primaries Could Usher in Prosecutors Who Promise a More Equal Criminal Justice System
Reformers have targeted Texas primary races where candidates promise bail reform and jail diversion.
Commissioners, criminal justice advocates quarrel about funding of Travis Co. women's jail
A majority of facilities at the Travis County Correction Complex need major infrastructure upgrades. Nineteen of 27 buildings fail functional, mechanical, and architectural ratings, according to the Planning and Budget Office. A two-year analysis resulted in the 2016 master plan with recommendations on renovation and expansion.
Travis County commissioners delay vote on women’s jail expansion
When Travis County commissioners approved the 2018 budget in September that included about $6.6 million to design a new women’s facility in the Del Valle jail, County Judge Sarah Eckhardt insisted, over the cries of criminal justice reform advocates, that it would not mean more beds overall but that more would be allocated to women.
Read the rest of this article at the Austin American-Statesman.
Texas may shutter some juvenile prisons in push to shift youth closer to home
If everything goes as planned, Texas could shutter some of its state-run juvenile prisons over the next five years, according to the newly installed director of the troubled Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
TJC hosts public hearing of Texas House Committee on Homeland Security & Public Safety
Tyler Junior College hosted a public hearing of the Texas House Committee on Homeland Security & Public Safety February 1, in the board room on the TJC main campus.
“They’re just setting those babies up for the penitentiary”: How minor offenses feed overcrowding at Houston youth jail
Across Texas, kids are getting into less trouble with the law even though the state population is exploding. So why is Harris County's juvenile detention center bursting at the seams?
Koch network targets Texas in push for prison reform in Trump era
The network backed by the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch is investing millions to research how to help former prisoners successfully re-enter society in Texas and three other states.