Infrastructure So Shot, the UN Condemned TDCJ

By Lance Lowry (AFSCME Huntsville)

Huntsville, Texas - The Texas Department of Criminal Justice asked in their Legislative Appropriation Request (LAR) for 2016 and 2017 an additional $60 million in operating expenses for their aging infrastructure, that includes many facilities over 75 years old. 

 

Many infrastructural demands exist in TDCJ as a result of extremely old buildings, rushed construction in the 1990's, and prison units built as 20 year temporary structures.  Most of the sheet metal transfer facilities have outlived their 20 year life expectancy and state leadership has no plans to replace these structures.
 

 

TDCJ correctional officers and maintenance staff are overcome daily with maintenance problems rising out of the deteriorating conditions inside of Texas prisons that include busted sewer pipes, water outages, lack of proper lighting, broken security doors, broken ventilation systems, leaking roofs, clogged sinks, toilets not flushing, drafty buildings, and structural integrity issues. 

 

Maintenance deficiencies lead to health and safety concerns for TDCJ staff who are exposed to dangerous conditions such as exposure to black mold, raw sewage (containing hepatitis and other diseases), fall hazards, excessive noise from industrial fans (75-85dB), and extreme climate conditions. 

Most TDCJ prison buildings lack any type of sound insulation and the introduction of industrial fans due to the deaths from the 2007 heat wave have only compounded the problems.  Excessive noise and heat have made the Texas Department of Criminal Justice a living hell to work in.  Exposure to noise levels of 85 decibels or more for long periods of time can lead to hearing damage, according to the National Institute of Health.     

Conditions in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice have deteriorated to the point the United Nations Committee Against Torture condemned the agency for its deficiencies concerning temperature, insufficient ventilation and humidity.   Unfortunately fans do little to relieve high humidity levels in prisons that are ripe with showers, toilets, sinks, and drains that only add to the humid conditions. 

Officers get little relief from the heat while being forced to wear stab resistant Kevlar vest, which offer no breathing room for hot climate conditions.  Even more concerning is the fact the Texas Department of Criminal Justice workforce is aging with over 1,992 correctional officers over the age of 60, according to staffing numbers from the Texas Auditor's Office for fiscal year 2015.  The agency requires no occupational physical examination prior to hiring applicants and only requires a physical agility test which is not administered by a licensed physician.  It comes with little surprise that on October 27, 2015 John Teel, a 44 year old TDCJ cadet, died while warming up for physical activity during his academy training in Amarillo.  Unfortunately this is not the first time a training death has occurred in TDCJ from physical activity.  Proper medical screening by a licensed physician needs to be required for new applicants prior to employment. 

Problems with Financing

Texas is far from being broke or lacking financial resources.  One major problem with state financing is they lack an internal mechanism for funding long term expenditures.  The Texas Constitution requires all appropriations to be paid for up front.  Texas, unlike the Federal Government, is known as a "pay as you go" state.  In order to finance any type of debt the voters must approve a constitutional amendment during a proposition election.  This leaves very little money left in the state's General Revenue Fund to pay for capital expenditures, such as buildings and cars. 

 

 

 

 

Lack of capital revenue explains why TDCJ has facilities that are now historical structures and vehicles with over 500,000 miles.  While no one in their right mind would spend $14,000 repairing a vehicle every two years, when a new vehicle would cost $20,000, TDCJ happily does it to appease the budget writers who are forced to balance the budget every two years. 

Solution

Budget writers need to look where money is available and methods for reducing unnecessary cost.  The price of incarceration is on the rise.  Texas needs to look for better solutions on reducing the number of people locked up.  Currently TDCJ operates the largest state prison system in the nation and if Texas were its own country we would have the largest per capita prison population in the world.   

Texas currently has a large pile of cash in retirement systems which is invested in everything from real estate to the stock market.  Public employees rely on secure investments and could gain from the retirement systems building newer prisons on TDCJ property that could be leased back to TDCJ for a secure profit.  Section 2167.051 of the Texas Government Code allows the state's retirement systems to lease commercial space to state agencies. 

 

 

Most System I facilities (Beto, Byrd, Central (TDCJ removed all offenders from the Central Unit in August 2011), Clemens, Coffield, Crain, Darrington, Eastham, Ellis, Estelle, Ferguson, Goree, Hilltop, Huntsville, Jester III, Luther, Mountain View, Pack, Powledge, Ramsey, Scott, Stringfellow, Terrell, Vance, and Wynne) are in need of serious maintenance.  These units are great candidates to be mothballed and replaced with smaller units since TDCJ can't find adequate staff to safely operate them.   

 

The transfer style facilities (Cotulla, Duncan, Ft. Stockton, Garza East, Garza West, Goodman, Gurney, Hamilton, Holliday, LeBlanc, Marlin, Middleton, C. Moore, Rudd, San Saba, Segovia, Tulia, and Ware) were built as temporary structures and have surpassed their life expectancy of 20 years.

Source: Texas Legislative Budget Board Uniform Cost Report 2015, Page 4.

Data indicates TDCJ is wasting substantial money on the System I (Pre-1987 Facilities), which have designs that require more staffing and have greater maintenance issues.  More energy efficient climate controlled facilities could replace these facilities with a cost savings.  Current data indicates the cost savings between a 1,000  Prototype prison and the older System I prisons is a daily cost of $7.83 per offender.  This translates into a cost savings of $234,008,946 per biennium if TDCJ were to build smaller more modern energy efficient replacement facilities that would have modern day climate control.  This savings is enough money to pay for the principal on the estimated $3.5 billion replacement cost for 40,940 beds. 

 

 

 

Here is a list of TDCJ prison units and there age:

Unit Name		City	Type of Unit	Year Built	Unit Age		Capacity
Allred		Iowa Park	Prison	1995	20		3,682
Beto		Tennessee Colony	Prison	1980	35		3,471
Boyd		Teague	Prison	1992	23		1,330
Briscoe		Dilley	Prison	1992	23		1,342
Byrd		Huntsville	Prison	1964	51		1,365
Central (Closed)		Sugarland	Prison	1909	106		Offline
Clemens		Brazoria	Prison	1902	113		1,215
Clements		Amarillo	Prison	1990	25		3,714
Coffield		Tennessee Colony	Prison	1965	50		4,139
Cole		Bonham	State Jail	1995	20		900
Connally		Kenedy	Prison	1995	20		2,848
Cotulla		Cotulla	Transfer	1992	23		606
Dalhart		Dalhart	Prison	1995	20		1,356
Daniel		Snyder	Prison	1989	26		1,342
Darrington		Rosharon	Prison	1919	96		1,931
Dominguez		San Antonio	State Jail	1995	20		2,276
Duncan		Diboll	Transfer	1990	25		606
Eastham		Lovelady	Prison	1917	98		2,474
Ellis		Huntsville	Prison	1965	50		2,404
Estelle		Huntsville	Prison	1984	31		3,273
Ferguson		Midway	Prison	1962	53		2,421
Formby		Plainview	State Jail	1996	19		1,100
Fort Stockton		Fort Stockton	Transfer	1990	25		606
Garza East		Beeville	Transfer	1994	21		2,458
Garza West		Beeville	Transfer	1994	21		2,278
Gatesville		Gatesville	Prison	1914	101		2,115
Gist		Beaumont	State Jail	1994	21		2,276
Glossbrenner		San Diego	SAFP	1995	20		612
Goodman		Jasper	Transfer	1995	20		612
Goree		Huntsville	Prison	1909	106		1,321
Gurney		Tennessee Colony	Transfer	1993	22		2,128
Halbert		Burnet	SAFP	1995	20		612
Hamilton		Bryan	Pre-Release	1995	20		1,166
Havins		Brownwood	State Jail	1994	21		596
Henley		Dayton	State Jail	1995	20		576
Hightower		Dayton	Prison	1990	25		1,342
Hilltop		Gatesville	Prison	1888	127		677
Hobby		Marlin	Prison	1989	26		1,342
Hodge		Rusk	MROP	1995	20		989
Holliday		Huntsville	Transfer	1994	21		2,128
Hospital Galveston		Galveston	Medical	1983	32		0
Hughes		Gatesville	Prison	1990	25		2,900
Huntsville		Huntsville	Prison	1849	166		1,705
Hutchins		Dallas	State Jail	1995	20		2,276
Jester I		Richmond	SAFP	1885	130		323
Jester III		Richmond	Prison	1982	33		1,131
Jester IV		Richmond	Psychiatric	1993	22		550
Johnston		Winnsboro	SAFP	1995	20		612
Jordan		Pampa	Prison	1992	23		1,008
Kegans		Houston	State Jail	1997	18		667
LeBlanc		Beaumont	Pre-Release	1995	20		1,224
Lewis		Woodville	Prison	1990	25		2,190
Lopez		Edinburg	State Jail	1997	18		1,100
Luther		Navasota	Prison	1982	33		1,316
Lychner		Humble	State Jail	1995	20		2,276
Lynaugh		Fort Stockton	Prison	1994	21		1,374
McConnell		Beeville	Prison	1992	23		2,900
Michael		Tennessee Colony	Prison	1987	28		3,221
Middleton		Abilene	Transfer	1994	21		2,128
Montford		Lubbock	Psychiatric	1994	21		950
Moore, C.		Bonham	Transfer	1995	20		1,224
Mt. View		Gatesville	Prison	1962	53		645
Murray		Gatesville	Prison	1995	20		1,313
Neal		Amarillo	Prison	1995	20		1,690
Ney		Hondo	State Jail	1995	20		576
Pack		Navasota	Prison	1982	33		1,478
Plane		Dayton	State Jail	1995	20		2,276
Polunsky		Livingston	Prison	1993	22		2,900
Powledge		Palestine	Prison	1982	33		1,137
Ramsey I		Rosharon	Prison	1908	107		1,891
Roach		Childress	Prison	1991	24		1,842
Robertson		Abilene	Prison	1992	23		2,900
Rudd		Brownfield	Transfer	1995	20		612
Sanchez		El Paso	State Jail	1996	19		1,100
Sayle		Breckenridge	SAFP	1994	21		632
Scott		Angleton	Prison	1919	96		1,130
Segovia		Edinburg	Pre-Release	1995	20		1,224
Skyview		Rusk	Psychiatric	1988	27		528
Smith		Lamesa	Prison	1992	23		2,125
Stevenson		Cuero	Prison	1994	21		1,342
Stiles		Beaumont	Prison	1993	22		2,897
Stringfellow		Rosharon	Prison	1908	107		1,212
Telford		New Boston	Prison	1995	20		2,832
Terrell, C.T.		Rosharon	Prison	1983	32		1,603
Torres		Hondo	Prison	1993	22		1,342
Travis Co.		Austin	State Jail	1997	18		1,161
Tulia		Tulia	Transfer	1990	25		606
Vance		Richmond	Prison	1885	130		378
Wallace		Colorado City	Prison	1994	21		1,502
Ware		Colorado City	Transfer	1997	18		916
Wheeler		Plainview	State Jail	1995	20		576
Woodman		Gatesville	State Jail	1995	20		900
Wynne		Huntsville	Prison	1883	132		2,621
Young		Dickenson	Medical	1996	19		310