homegrown harris jail jam

Homegrown Harris jail jam

Why is the Harris County jail overcrowded?

Because Harris County prosecutors and judges have been using a legal

loophole to incarcerate low-level drug offenders who should be

receiving drug treatment. A Texas state law passed in 2003 required

judges to sentence first-time, low-level drug offenders to probation

and treatment instead of state jail. Harris County prosecutors,

though, relied on another provision of the law to impose up to six

months incarceration in the county jail as a condition of probation.

Since that 2003 law passed, according to the ACLU of Texas Prison and

Jail Accountability Project, the number of state jail felons sentenced

to county jail as a condition of their probation increased by 188%

(Word document).

No wonder the Harris County jail is full! They're choosing to

incarcerate people at their own expense who the Legislature thought

should receive cheaper and more effective drug treatment options. That

makes it a homegrown problem, which will now require a homegrown

solution: Governor Perry recently vetoed legislation that would have

closed the loophole. (See Solutions for Texas and Kuff for more.

UPDATE: New Kuff post Saturday.)

Top 10 Counties by number

of State Jail Felons (6/1/05)

Source: ACLU of Texas Prison and Jail

Accountability Project

County

State Jail Felons Sentenced to County Jail

Harris

941

Dallas

196

Galveston

42

Travis

39

Jefferson

30

Lamar

25

Navarro

24

Bexar

19

Webb

14

Collin

12

Total for all 254 Texas Counties

1,455

% of Total in Harris County

65%

For more information on the roots of Harris County Jail's

overincarceration crisis, see Grits' Harris 'bail and jail' series