State regulators may force Dallas County TX to move up to 900 prisoners out of its largest and most-populated jail tower because of lingering fire-safety concerns. Report from the Dallas Morning News.
If so, the county would probably have to reopen the Decker jail that was recently depopulated so the county could centralize its jail operations on the Lew Sterrett Justice Center campus. The moving of so many prisoners would not only be costly at a time when the county is staring at a $60 million budget shortfall, it also would create logistical headaches. Because the north tower jail houses those accused of the most serious crimes, the question would be where to put them. Decker can hold up to 1,080 inmates but it is a minimum-security jail. The new $65 million south tower jail that recently opened can take another 400 inmates, officials say. But it doesn’t have high-risk inmates because its guards work inside inmate housing areas …
Faulty smoke-detection and removal systems there contributed to the county’s seventh-straight failed inspection in March. If the jail commissioners are not satisfied with the county’s progress, they might consider rescinding a 1994 exception to state rules that allowed the county to add 928 extra bunks to the north tower’s cells, some county officials say …
The county’s temporary plan is to install a portable exhaust fan system to help suck smoke out of the building, Price said. It will consist of gigantic fans with hoses that will plug into ports in the cells. The longer-term solution is to hire a firm to re-balance the north tower’s air-handling system … Ryan Brown, the county budget director, estimated that those fixes would cost a half-million dollars and take about six months to complete. Also, the county will replace about 1,600 smoke detectors at $100 each, he said. ”My hope is that they can see we’ve done enough on a temporary basis to improve safety,” Commissioner Mike Cantrell said. “We’re trying to offer a solution.”
There is a great deal more data and background in the complete article.
vericatrajkova County-State Issues, TX Dallas County, Texas
An audit released by City Hall this morning shows that Dallas TX taxpayers could have saved about $2.2 million if the city had done a better job updating its jail contract with the county. Report from Dallas Morning News.
Each year, the city and the county enter into an agreement in which the city hands over about $7 million for the county to handle its prisoners. According to the audit, the city hasn’t revised that agreement since 1997. And the agreement doesn’t account for “actual jail operating expenditures,” the audit stated. So even as the number of city prisoners in the jail has fallen, from more than 85,000 in 2006 to about 61,000 last year, the city’s costs have increased.
Had the city revised its agreement with the county to tie costs to the number of prisoners held, it “would have save the City $2,161,787 from Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 through FY 2008,” the audit stated.
vericatrajkova County-City Issues, TX Dallas County, Texas
Los Angeles County CA Sheriff Leroy Baca dispatched
four envoys [Thursday] to Dallas County TX to tour the jail facilities and meet with criminal justice types for ideas on how to improve his own situation.
Baca met Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez at a recent conference and the two learned they had some things in common. Like Dallas, LA County has a huge jail system that has had crowding problems and is the subject of Justice Department oversight. So Baca sent two of his chiefs, a captain and a criminal justice director here to learn what Dallas County is doing right to manage its jail population and improve jail health, etc.
More at the Dallas News Crime Blog.
vericatrajkova CA Los Angeles County, California, Inmate Health, Overcrowding, TX Dallas County, Texas
A team of federal inspectors says Dallas County TX’s jail health system still can’t perform even the most basic tasks, such as giving medicine to prisoners when they arrive at the jail. The Dallas Morning News:
After four years of pouring millions of dollars into jail improvements, county officials say they expect the jail system, the nation’s seventh largest, to be a model for the rest of the country. And in their latest report, federal inspectors wrote that they remain impressed by the county’s progress. But they said “infirmary care, tracking chronic illness and mental health programming remain as significant obstacles” …
Inspectors noted delays in issuing medications, a lack of medical evaluations, inconsistent care, lack of medical care for mental-health patients, a long backlog in sick-call requests, and sanitation and maintenance lapses. The inspectors reserved their harshest language for the Lew Sterrett jail kitchen, where they found moldy ceilings that dripped water, live wires next to standing water and condensation so thick it was almost impossible to see across the room. “This combination of live electrical wires and a very wet floor poses a severe electrocution hazard,” the report said …
Commissioner John Wiley Price, who oversees jail improvements, said people get better medical care in county jails than they do in hospitals and doctors’ offices. “How many doctors’ offices are open 24 hours?” he asked. “We’re running a small city over there. And a city would not have to meet the stringent regulations that are being heaped upon us.” County commissioners have committed millions of dollars to the jail system for more staff and medical facilities to make up for inadequate spending in the past. Several large projects are nearing completion, such as new fire-safety systems and a $65 million jail tower. But the county so far has been unable to devise a system for quickly issuing needed medications to sick inmates.
There is a lot more to this story in the Dallas Morning News.
vericatrajkova Inmate Health, TX Dallas County
Dallas County inmates who are in jail due to substance abuse issues are waiting for beds in state-run treatment facilities that don’t exist. As of this month, 141 inmates to be precise are on the waiting list. The backlog costs the county millions of dollars in jail costs each year. So county officials are going to team up with the state to form a re-entry court to get these people out of the jails and help ease them back into the community.
The good news is, Dallas County will only have to provide office space and utilities for the new court. The state will pick up the annual personnel costs of $414,935.
County officials estimate that between 60-80 percent of the roughly 1,500 inmates who go to Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facilities (SAFPF) each year can be diverted to the new re-entry court. This will cut down on the backlog at the jails. If those waiting for treatment beds spend 50 fewer days in jail, it will save Dallas County a little more than $2 million a year, officials estimate.
vericatrajkova Drug Treatment & Diversion, Re-Entry, TX Dallas County, Texas
Being a Dallas County TX sheriff’s captain requires you to interact with those you supervise. But captains work normal business hours while their employees work all hours of the day and night. Sheriff Lupe Valdez plans to change that.
Beginning soon, all captains will vary their shift once a month so they can “talk one-on-one with employees from every shift,” says department spokeswoman Kim Leach. The idea, Leach says, is to “allow upper level commanders and managers to have eyes and ears at all levels that fall under their direct supervision.”
vericatrajkova TX Dallas County
- Prison populations in England & Wales are “out of control“, say reform groups; more than 10,000 over capacity.
- New superintendents for Coyote Ridge and Walla Walla Prisons in Washington State.
- Three top officials at CDCR have resigned their positions, two to work for the medical Receiver.
- Alabama’s DOC continues to sell land to raise operational revenues.
- Dallas County TX is considering charging bed-and-board to inmates.
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