Texas

Overview

In 2006 and 2007, the CSG Justice Center worked with Texas state leaders to develop data-driven, consensus-based policy options designed to reduce corrections spending and increase public safety. CSG Justice Center experts interviewed stakeholders and conducted a comprehensive analysis of the state’s criminal justice data to identify the challenges facing Texas’ criminal justice system:

• People revoked to prison from probation increased 18 percent in the previous decade, despite a 3 percent decline in the probation population
• More than 2,000 individuals were awaiting placement for substance abuse and mental health programs due to a reduction in funding and subsequent closure of various community-based programs and facilities
• Parole grant rates were much lower than the parole board’s own guidelines; among low-risk individuals, the board fell short of its minimum approval rate by 2,252 releases

Justice Reinvestment policies were adopted in the 2008-2009 biennial budget. The framework includes several policies designed to address theses challenges, such as:

• Increased treatment capacity in the prison system by 5,200 program slots for substance abuse treatment (outpatient, in-prison, and post-release) and mental health treatment
• Expanded diversion options in the probation and parole system by 4,500 beds for technical violations of supervision, transitional treatment, and substance abuse treatment

 These policies mitigated the state’s growth in prison population by about 9,000 and saved the state $443 million from 2008-09. The state reinvested $241 million to expand in-prison and community-based treatment and diversion programs.