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| Texas Jail streamlining shows success |
| By Austin American-Statesman |
| Published: 08/25/2003 |
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Jail inmates in their striped uniforms are called one at a time to stand before Travis County, Texas, Court-at-Law Judge Gisela Triana. She reads the charges against them, and most enter a plea of no contest. Then she sentences them. Triana is hosting the daily jail call, the front line of a system-wide assault on lowering the jail population in Travis County that has been a resounding success. Prosecutors, judges and jailers are bringing all misdemeanor offenders who haven't made bail to court within a week of their arrest and making most of them the best plea offer they'll see. Cases often are disposed of right away, which reduces the average stay. The jail call is one of several initiatives started last year when the Travis County jails were full and the sheriff's budget was skyrocketing. In July 2002, the daily jail population averaged 2,814 inmates; this year's July average was 2,186. The reduction gives county commissioners one of their best opportunities to control increasing county spending. In a year in which the preliminary budget proposes a 6.4 percent tax rate increase, the sheriff's budget shows a savings of $2 million from the inmate reduction. Most is from eliminating 35 corrections officer positions through attrition. The sheriff's budget, at a proposed $83.8 million, is the largest in the county. In addition to running the jails, the department provides courthouse security and law enforcement in most areas outside Austin. On Thursday, Sheriff Margo Frasier agreed to cut an additional $1 million from that proposed budget by eliminating a boot camp program for young offenders, delaying capital purchases such as a boiler and a patrol boat, and making other smaller budget adjustments. In return, the Commissioners Court agreed not to cut the budget further and gave Frasier the ability to shift or cut spending internally to hire additional law enforcement officers. Frasier said she hopes to hire as many as 20 deputies or detectives, which could cost as much as $1 million. Most county officials agree, though, that the key to stabilizing the sheriff's budget over time is controlling the inmate population. Travis County's success comes at a time when the jail population in other large counties is stagnant or increasing. The average county jail populations in El Paso and Tarrant, the counties with the closest population to Travis', have increased 6 percent and 11 percent respectively from 2002 to 2003. Travis County's jail population has decreased 17 percent in that time. Travis County 'addressed the problem aggressively and efficiently,' said Terry Julian, the executive director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. The state commission, which monitors jail safety, operations and inmate treatment standards, threatened to sue Travis County in January 2002 if it did not alleviate problems, including crowding, at its jails. In August 2002, the jail call began, and by September, District Attorney Ronnie Earle, whose office prosecutes felonies, started a 'rocket docket' to speed low-level drug felonies to disposition. Most of those defendants are moved from the county jail to the state jail after they are convicted, shifting the incarceration cost to the state. In January, district judges started sending drug cases to a courtroom staffed by a visiting judge three days a week. Since then, the number of felony defendants waiting for a jury trial in District Court has gone from 423 to 235. Also under consideration is a plan to expand the rocket docket to prosecute other crimes, including unauthorized use of a motor vehicle or burglary. And county commissioners are considering whether to hire a consultant to come in and look at the sheriff's office's operations for savings. |
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