The department encompasses these major divisions: • Correctional Institutions Division • Parole Division • Community Justice Assistance Division
Correctional Institutions Division in
Huntsville is a prison operated by the Correctional Institutions Division; it houses the state execution chamber and formerly served as the agency's headquarters. The Correctional Institutions Division, which operates secure correctional facilities for adults, has its headquarters in the Brad Livingston Administrative Headquarters in Huntsville. TDCJ-CID, formed in 2003, was a merger of the Institutions Division, the Operations Division, the Private Facilities Division, and the State Jail Division. The division operates prisons, which are facilities for people convicted of capital offenses and people convicted of first-, second-, and third-degree felony offenses, and state jails, facilities for people convicted of state jail felony offenses. Before the 2003 formation of the Correctional Institutions Division, the Institutional Division operated prisons and the State Jail Division (TDCJ-SJD) operated state jails. As of 2010, of the counties in Texas, the five with the highest numbers of state prisons and jails were
Walker,
Brazoria and
Coryell (tie), and
Anderson and
Liberty (tie). As of 2001, prisons may be named after people who are dead or who are still alive, and namesakes have included Governors of Texas, TDCJ employees, members of the
Texas House of Representatives, mayors, police officers, and judges. In previous eras, prisons were only named after deceased TDCJ employees and state governors. By the 2000s, so many new prisons were being built that the TDCJ had to change its naming policy. Regional offices of the CID are: Region I, headquartered in Huntsville; Region II, headquartered on TDCJ prison property in Anderson County, near
Palestine; Region III, headquartered on the property of the
Memorial Unit in Brazoria County, near
Rosharon; Region IV, headquartered in the former
Chase Field Industrial Complex (a TDCJ property) in
Beeville; Region V, headquartered in
Plainview; and Region VI, headquartered on TDCJ property in
Gatesville.
Correctional institutions , a prison that previously housed the male death row. Most of the TDCJ prisons are located in the historic cotton slavery belt around the former location of
Stephen F. Austin's colony. Counties that have housed adult correctional facilities, such as Brazoria,
Fort Bend,
Polk, and
Walker, once had slave majority populations. Many of the largest
prison farms and prison properties in the state, including
Goree Unit,
the Jester units,
Polunsky Unit, the Ramsey units, and
Wynne Unit, are located in those counties. The state of Texas began building adult prisons outside of the historic cotton belt in the 1980s. Some units have employee housing; most employee housing was constructed prior to the TDCJ's early to mid-1990s prison expansion. As of 2008, of the 22 units that are staffed below 80% of their employee capacities, eight (36%) of the units have officers' quarters. As of that year, the TDCJ requested funding from the Texas Legislature for three 80-bed officers' quarters to be built next to three prisons that the agency considers to be "critically staffed." An employee who obtains a residence in a state-owned house on or after September 1, 1997, pays $50 per month during the fiscal year of 1998, and for each subsequent year, 20% of the fair market rental valuation of the property. A resident of state-owned bachelor officers' quarters or a renter of a state-owned mobile home lot pays $75 per month. . The Texas Prison System purchased its first prison farm in 1885. The oldest TDCJ units still in operation, originally established between 1849 and 1933, include Huntsville Unit (1849), Wynne Unit (1883),
Jester I Unit (1885, brick building in 1932),
Vance (Harlem/Jester II) Unit (1885, brick building in 1933),
Clemens Unit (1893),
Ramsey (I) Unit (1908),
Stringfellow (Ramsey II) Unit (1908), Goree Unit (1907),
Memorial (Darrington) Unit (1917), and
J. Dale Wainwright (Eastham) Unit (1917); prior to their closures
Central Unit (1909, rebuilt in 1932) and
Retrieve (later Wayne Scott) Unit (1919) were among the oldest prisons. In addition, the
Hilltop Unit uses buildings from the former
Gatesville State School, a juvenile correctional facility, making the Hilltop Unit's prison facility the third-oldest correctional facility still-used in Texas after the Huntsville and Jester I. The largest TDCJ prison is the
Coffield Unit, with a capacity of 4,021 inmates. The largest female prison is the
Christina Crain Unit, with a capacity of 2,013 inmates. Originally, many Texas prison farms had no cells; the prisoners were housed in racially segregated dormitory units referred to as "tanks". In the 1960s, the Texas Prison System began referring to the prisons as "units". Chad R. Trulson and James W. Marquart, authors of
First Available Cell: Desegregation of the Texas Prison System, said that the word unit was a
euphemism that probably was intended to refer to progressive penal practices, professionalism, and a distancing from a legacy of racism.
State jails ,
downtown Houston State jails house inmates convicted of state jail felony offenses, which include lower-level assault and drug, family, and property offenses. In addition the Texas Board of Criminal Justice designated state jails as transfer units for individuals who are bound for prisons. Individuals in a state jail who are convicted of a state jail offense must be held for at least 75 days and may not be held longer than 2 years. Individuals may not parole or have mandatory supervision release from state jails.
Psychiatric units The TDCJ operates three psychiatric units, including
Jester IV Unit, Skyview Unit, and the John Montford Psychiatric Unit. As of March 2013, the units are at capacity. Brandi Grissom of the
Texas Monthly said, "So acute is the need for psychiatric prisoners that if Texas built a fourth facility, it would be full as soon as it opened."
Death-row offenders and offenders with
life imprisonment without parole enter the TDCJ system through two points; men enter through the
Byrd Unit in Huntsville, and women enter through the Reception Center in
Christina Crain Unit, Gatesville. From there, inmates with life without parole sentences go on to their assigned facilities. Male death-row offenders go to the
Allan B. Polunsky Unit, and female death-row offenders go to the
Mountain View Unit.
Transportation The prisoner transportation network of the TDCJ is headquartered in Huntsville. As of 2005, the network has 326 employees, including 319 uniformed employees. The TDCJ's regional prisoner transportation hubs are located in
Abilene,
Amarillo,
Beeville, Huntsville,
Palestine, and
Rosharon. Of the transportation hubs, the Central Region hub in Huntsville transports the largest number of prisoners to the greatest number of units. The Abilene hub controls the largest land area. Prisoners in the general population are seated together, with prisoners handcuffed in pairs. Prisoners in administrative segregation and prisoners under death sentences are seated individually; various restraints, including belly chains and leg irons, are placed on those prisoners. Each prisoner transport vehicle has two urinals and two water dispensers. As of 2005, all of the transportation vans and half of the chain buses have air conditioning. Individual prisoners receive formal orientations and copies of the manual after undergoing initial processing. The manual has 111 pages of rules of behavior. It is intended to establish governance over all aspects of prison life. The prison rule system is modeled on the free-world penal system, but it does not have judicial review and rights. The number of regulations has increased due to court orders, incidents, and managerial initiative.
Robert Perkinson, author of ''
Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire (2010), wrote that the Offender Orientation Handbook'' "encapsulates the weary institutional dream of imposing perfect discipline on potential chaos" and that the "sweeping and tedious rules" "cover a bewildering range of restrictions and obligations." Perkinson explains that several federal court orders have shaped the prison courts, which "have all of the trappings of adversarial justice," including a counsel substitute and a presiding captain, physical evidence, and witnesses. Jorge Renaud, a man who served as a prisoner in Texas's state prisons and the author
Behind the Walls: A Guide for Families and Friends of Texas Prison Inmates, said usually when an inmate is charged with a prison offense, the sole question to be determined is the severity of the punishment to be given to the inmate.
Offender dress code Offenders in all TDCJ units wear uniforms consisting of cotton white pullover shirts and white elastic-waist trousers. The TDCJ requires prisoners to wear uniforms so they can easily be identified and to prevent correctional officers from forming associations and giving preferential treatment to any prisoners. The TDCJ retired clothing with belts and buttons and introduced trousers with expandable waists. Shoes worn by prisoners may be issued by the state or purchased from the commissary. Male prisoners must be clean-shaven, unless they have been approved to grow a 1/2 inch religious beard, a provision that went into effect August 1, 2015. Usually their hair is required to be trimmed to the backs of their heads and necks. TDCJ-CID says that "Female offenders will not have extreme haircuts." In 2016, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that religious inmates such as Muslims are allowed to grow 4-inch beards as well as wear religious clothing, so long as prisoners do not hide contraband. Inmate with longer hair are inspected by shaking their hair with their fingers. Prisoners must have hair cut around their ears. Robert Perkinson, author of
Texas Tough, says that the uniforms make prisoners "look like shapeless hospital orderlies." The
Austin American-Statesman and the
Houston Press compiled lists of some books that have been banned by the TDCJ, noting some are considered classics of the literary canon.
Prisoner release The TDCJ uses regional release centers for male prisoners. Most male prisoners are released to be closer to their counties of conviction, approved release counties, or residences. Male prisoners who have detainers, are classified as sex offenders, have electronic monitoring imposed by the
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, or have certain special conditions of the Super Intensive Supervision Program are released from Huntsville Unit, regardless of their counties of conviction, residences, or approved release counties. Regional release facilities for men include the Huntsville Unit, the William P. Clements Jr. Unit near Amarillo; the Hutchins State Jail in
Hutchins, near
Dallas; the
French M. Robertson Unit in Abilene; and the
William G. McConnell Unit near Beeville. All female prisoners who are not state jail prisoners or Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facility prisoners are released from the
Christina Crain Unit (formerly the Gatesville Unit) in Gatesville. Rick Thaler, the director of the Correctional Institutions Division, predicted in 2010 that the Huntsville Unit, which serves as the regional release center for
greater Houston, would remain the TDCJ's largest release center despite the decrease of traffic of released prisoners. State jail offenders are released from their units of assignment. All people released receive a set of nonprison clothing and a bus voucher. State jail offenders receive a voucher to their counties of conviction. Prison offenders receive $50 upon their release and another $50 after reporting to their parole officers. Released state jail offenders do not receive money. Inmates in Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facilities are also directly released. Male inmates with health and mental health difficulties and sex offenders are still mostly released from Huntsville.
Death row The TDCJ houses male death-row inmates in the Polunsky Unit and female death-row inmates in the O'Daniel Unit. The Polunsky death row has about 290 prisoners. The state of Texas began housing death-row inmates in the Huntsville Unit in 1928. In 1965, the male death-row inmates moved to the
Ellis Unit. In 1999, the male death row moved to Polunsky. the first, Emma "Straight Eight" Oliver, was held at Huntsville Unit after her 1949 sentencing, but had her sentence commuted to life imprisonment in 1951. Mary Anderson, sentenced to death in 1978, was held at Goree Unit.
Health care The
University of Texas Medical Branch provides health care to offenders in the eastern, northern, and southern sections of Texas. The
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center provides health care to offenders in the western part of Texas. In addition, private corporations provide healthcare services. Hospitalized offenders may go to the Hospital Galveston Unit, the Montford Unit in
unincorporated Lubbock County, or area hospitals. In 1993,
Texas State Comptroller John Sharp proposed that the TDCJ end its healthcare department and transfer responsibilities to the universities to reduce costs. During that time, most TDCJ prison units were in south and east Texas, and UTMB was to provide for the care of 80% of the managed care for TDCJ, while Texas Tech was to provide the remaining 20%. In September 1994, UTMB and Texas Tech took responsibility for 3,000 healthcare workers and a $270 million budget. In 2011, the board considered ending its contract with UTMB and having regional hospitals provide care for prisoners. In 2018, the department said it needed an additional $281 million in its 2020 budget to provide the required minimum amount of health care. To save money, the department rarely provides prisoners dentures, finding it cheaper to simply produce a blended diet in such cases. As of 2017, 2.3 million incarcerated Americans depend on prisons for their healthcare. These incarcerated individuals face limited access to medical exams and prescriptions medications compared to the general population as they are not eligible for Medicaid while incarcerated. On top of that, inmates face fees for seeking medical treatment. In 35 states, inmates have medical co-payments which come out of their commissary accounts (made up of prison job payments and contributions from their family). The copays are enforced to prevent inmates from abusing the healthcare system, however, it becomes a burden on inmates whose job makes little to no money and can become a financial strain on the family.
Private Healthcare in Private Facilities The two largest private prison companies, CoreCivic (formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America) and the GEO Group, run over 170 correctional facilities. In Texas, they have five facilities. These companies keep their operating costs low by using fewer dollars than allocated per inmate, especially in the area of Healthcare. Additionally, these companies and similar ones, avoid taking inmates over 65 or with chronic illnesses. When they cannot avoid it, they improvise ways to make it hard for the inmate to receive medical care. Specifically, CoreCivic has a history of denying hospital requests and punishing inmates when they make repeated requests. Additionally, the records of private prisons are not subject to public access laws.
Requesting Care Requesting care in prison systems involves a simple procedural checklist that must be met in order to see any type of medical professional. Firstly, an incarcerated person must fill out a Sick Call Request form that should be answered within a 48-hour time period. After 48 hours, if there is no response, the person is to advance to fill out an I-60 form which states general issues faced. If the process continues to yield no approval, a Step 1 Grievance is filled out. This level of documentation is very strictly reviewed. Continuing to hear no response for an extended period of time indicates the time to advance to a Step 2 Grievance. After these options, the prisoner may now file a lawsuit for "exhausting administrative remedies." A Sick Call Request form is a specified form that is specific towards what is wrong with the inmate medically. The progression to an I-60 form leads to a more generalized form that addresses seeing a doctor, contact visit, address changes and the like. A Step 1 Grievance is very strict and viewed very critically with certain guidelines such as only one problem can be addressed per grievance, only one grievance per week, must be reported within 15 days, and must be written with proper language. This form alone may take up to 40 days to be processed. A Step 2 Grievance is directly reviewed by TDCJ health committee and will have a response by 35 days. If these options are still not satisfactory, the inmate is then allowed to file a lawsuit because he/she has "exhausted administrative remedies." The $100 medical co-pay has since been abolished and now offenders are charged $7.50 per visit until they reach the annual cap of $100. Once the annual cap has been reached, the offender will not be charged for further visits. Fortunately though, care is not restricted if one does not have the necessary funds. Additionally, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) decided that the easiest and most cost-effective way to dole out prescription medications to inmates was to distribute it from their own pharmacy. This pharmacy is based in an unmarked building in Huntsville and serves 130 facilities throughout the state, including juvenile facilities, by filling over 20,000 prescriptions per day. Orders are sent out through an electronic medical record system and are processed with custom-made conveyor belts and automated machines. The pharmacy has a 24-hour next-business-day turnaround ensuring medications can get to inmates as soon as possible.
History of Healthcare Healthcare in Texas remained unchanged over time due to its simplicity. One aspect that did change was how the cost of healthcare for incarcerated persons fluctuated. An issue that was prominent in prison systems was the costs associated with treatment. For this reason, the Correctional Managed Health Care Committee (CMHCC) was established in 1993. This committee focuses on the rising costs of healthcare and how that effects inmates. The CMHCC hopes to open a statewide managed health care plan giving offenders the ability to afford care with timely access.
Mental Health The decline of mental health treatment within detainees has become a major concern in the prison system, especially in the Texas prison departments. While the Texas Department of Criminal Justice claims that most of its facilities are capable of treating mental health issues, this does not seem to be the case. Texas provides at least 20% of inmates mental health treatment and this small percentage could be explained by the shortage of volunteers and staff to provide these mental treatments. There is also failure to recognize mental symptoms and make a correct diagnosis for these detainees. Lack of mental aid has increased serious assaults and violent behaviors in which most of these cases have been declined by the Bureau of Prisons for "privacy reasons." Policies have been changed by the Bureau of Prisons to increase check-ins by once a month or weekly. However, the TDCJ has attempted to minimize these issues as best as it can. Detainees are offered guidelines on how to manage their stress and sanity before being released to the public. In terms of support and care, there is the Offender Grievance Program that allows offenders to communicate with faculty staff about questions, regards, or concerns associating with their sentence. In addition, the TDCJ Ombudsman Program makes referrals to an agency staff to help resolve problems and answer questions regarding a specific offender. The Peer Recovery Support Services hold classes to allow prisoners to help one another recover from their issues. Those that obtain a certificate from the program are eligible to work or volunteer as a Peer Recovery Support Specialist. This further build a community-based environment where prisoners can understand each other's mistakes and problems and cooperate as a team to provide solutions to better themselves. Specific programs are held for detainees that are of a particular background and history. The Chaplaincy Program is a nondiscriminatory program that permits prisoners to pursue their religious faiths, reconcile relationships, and strengthen families. The program offers mentoring, space for spiritual growth, pastoral care, life skill classes, accountability/support groups, etc. Similarly, the "InnerChange" Faith-Based- Pre-Release Program functions in the same way as the Chaplaincy Program to further help detainees recover well. For younger offenders, the Youthful Offender Program aids young offenders with special needs to the Mentally Retarded Offenders Program (MROP) or Physically Hanicapped Offenders Program (PHOP). Regular youth offenders are placed in interdisciplinary programming established on a weekly schedule, including: • education • social skills training • anger management • values development • goal setting • cognitive restructuring • substance abuse education • conflict resolution • aggression replacement • and life skills.
Recreation and Fitness Leisure activities are meant for enhancing potential life skills post-release and allowing inmates an opportunity to complete activities of their choice. In terms of recreation and fitness, inmates have the chance to participate in structured fitness sessions that offer regular and moderate levels of exercises monitored by staff. Staff members are to take into account the kind of activity the detainee wants to do, the amount of time spent on that activity, and given permission. These fitness sessions occur in the either on the "Rec. Yard" or the gymnasium. Most units offer a basic basketball court, volleyball court, and crude walking path. Only certain units have weights and gym equipment for inmate use. The "Rec. Yard" is surrounded by a barbed-wire fence for extra supervision. During a detainee's time in prison, they are given a physical assessment that focuses on cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, body fat percentage, and dynamic strength. To further sharpen community-building skills, inmates are eligible to run special fitness and health events, including: • Run/Walk Marathons • Health fairs; health book fairs • Nationally recognized health events In addition to these health events, inmates have the opportunity to educate themselves in other health and sanity organizations. Staff will provide discussions concentrating on: • Weight management • Stress management • Human anatomy • Aerobic exercises • Smoking cessation • Back pain relief • Nutrition Ultimately, prisoners are able to utilize these resources to make them better returning members of society.
Incarceration of women The Correctional Institutions Division has eight main facilities, including five prisons and three state jails, that
house women; including four prisons and one state jail, Originally, women were housed in the Huntsville Unit. Beginning in 1883, women were housed in the Johnson Farm, a privately owned cotton plantation near Huntsville. After Governor
Thomas Mitchell Campbell took office in January 1907, he moved the women from Johnson to the Eastham Farm (now
Eastham Unit) to try to protect women from predatory prison guards. For a period in the early 20th century, Eastham (currently Wainwright Unit) housed women before a sexual abuse scandal caused the Texas prison system to move women closer to Huntsville. Before the prisons in Gatesville opened in the 1980s, women in the Texas prison system were housed in the Goree Unit in Huntsville. In 2010, a study from the
National Women's Law Center and the Rebecca Project for Human Rights ranked the Texas prison system as giving "B+" care to women. A 2018 report by the
Texas Criminal Justice Coalition stated that women in the TDCJ have fewer career-training and employment programs available than men; women had only two certification programs, while men had 21. In 2019, the Texas Senate passed a bill, allowing inmates to have access to a greater variety of feminine hygiene products. They have access to various sized tampons and pads and can receive up to 10 free products per day.
Texas Prison Nurseries There is currently no standard policy for what happens when a woman gives birth while incarcerated, because only recently have states begun to ban the shackling of pregnant women during active labor and childbirth. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has created an initiative in collaboration with the University of Texas Medical Branch, called BAMBI (Baby and Mother Bonding Initiative). Within this program, eligible offenders will be provided with an opportunity to bond and form attachments, "...which is important to healthy growth and development, socialization, and psychological development during the infant's formative years, while in a safe and secure environment." However, all mothers within this program are only allowed to remain in it for 12 months. After this period they must have completed their sentence, and be prepared to transition back into society. The University of Texas Medical Branch found through their research with the BAMBI program that, "As the number of women giving birth in prisons continues to trend upward, the need for more programs to promote [the] best outcomes for both mother and infants is crucial." On average, about 250 babies are born to Texas Department of Criminal Justice inmates each year. The Santa Maria Hostel provides a residential setting for these mothers and their infants. However, compared to other states, Texas' prison nursery system is limited in accessibility to mothers and infants. Texas has one of the highest populations within its prisons, but resources to women and their infants is still limited. On September 1, 2009, two laws were passed in the 81st Texas legislature. One prohibited the use of restraints on female prisoners during childbirth. The other asked that the counties write and implement procedures in regards to the health of their pregnant inmate population. Another law was passed in 2019 that stipulated that pregnant inmates cannot be shackled at all during their pregnancy or when they are recovering after childbirth. As there is no set policy for how long a mother can remain with her infant after birth, the other proposal that has yet to be passed would allow 72 hours of bonding time if the inmate does not qualify for the BAMBI program. Also, it mandates more formal training for officers to protect the physical and mental safety of pregnant inmates. Thus, there is also a racial component to the treatment of pregnant women within the Texas prison. This may have to do with the fact that Texas prison healthcare does not offer screenings and treatments for high-risk pregnancies. They also lack resources to implement policy to give expectant mothers advice on nutrition, activity level, and safety. In addition, records of pregnancies and deliveries do not have to be written, and thus this could be another factor to explain the higher infant mortality. Unfortunately, in the general population within Texas, black non-Hispanics families were disproportionately affected by infant mortality. The prison trend follows the societal trend of infant mortality, which shows that there are disparities both within the prison system and the general population in terms of healthcare and preventative care.
Correctional officer training The TDCJ maintains training academies in Beeville, Gatesville, Huntsville, Palestine, Plainview, and Rosharon. Trainees who do not live within a commuting distance to the training academies take state-owned housing, only if room is available.
Demographics In 1974, the TDC had about 17,000 prisoners; 44% were black, 39% were non-Hispanic white, 16% were Hispanic and Latino, and 1% were of other races. About 96% were male and 4% were female. At the time, all 14 prison units of the TDC were in
Southeast Texas. As of August 31, 2022, TDCJ had a total of 121,976 prisoners, 32.5% were Black, 33.5% were non-Hispanic White, 33.3% were Hispanic, and 0.6% were other or unknown race. 92.5% were male and 7.5% were female.
Parole Division The TDCJ Parole Division supervises released offenders who are on
parole, inmates in the pre parole transfer program, and inmates in the work program. The division also investigates proposed parole plans from inmates, tracks parole eligible cases, and submits cases to the
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. The division does not make decisions on whether inmates should be released or whether paroles should be revoked. The TDCJ Parole Division has its central office in
Austin.
Halfway houses The parole division contracts with several agencies which operate
halfway houses. Organizations that contract with the TDCJ include
GEO Group (previously
Cornell Corrections), Southern Corrections, Wayback House, E.P. Horizon Management, L.L.C., and Avalon. As of 2004, nine halfway houses are in Texas. According to state law, former prisoners must be paroled to their counties of conviction, usually their home counties, if those counties have acceptable halfway-housing facilities available. Most counties do not have such facilities available. As of 2004, three facilities accept sex offenders and parolees from other counties; they are the halfway houses in
Beaumont,
El Paso County, and Houston. The Ben A. Reid Community Corrections Center, CJAD has its central office in the Price Daniel, Sr. Building in Austin.
Enrichment programs In the 1990s, Governor
Ann Richards created enrichment programs for prisons. Michael Hoinski of the
Texas Monthly stated that they "had helped spawn a golden age of
paño-making in Texas." The programs were ended during the terms of Governors
George W. Bush and
Rick Perry, and
paños are now prohibited in the TDCJ. ==Other divisions==