Texas Incarceration Grows, Becoming #1 In Nation

By Rachel Abell

EL PASO — A new report showed that Texas’ prison population grows, surpassing the previous lead-holder, California.

The report, generated by the Pew Center on the states, showed that nationwide, about 1 in every 100 adults is locked up in state or federal prisons or local jails. But during the two decades from 1985 to 2005, Texas’ prison population grew by nearly four times.

Texas did reduce its offender populations in the last year, but other states’ reductions were more pronounced. As of the first of the year, the center reported Texas had nearly 172,000 prisoners, down over 300 from the previous year. But California was able to reduce its number by over 4,000 during the same time frame.

Even with $2.3 billion in spending to expand the numbers of beds by 108,000, crowding issues continued. Adding to the situation was the estimate that an additional 17,000 more prisoners were expected to be incarcerated over the next five years.

Not wanting to incur $525 million in additional expenses for new prisons, legislators restructured prison systems and added programs to keep people out of trouble in the first place.

Expanding drug treatment programs and increased use of drug courts coupled with changes in parole practices are part of the new plans to curb prison population growth. The new reforms now could save the state $210 million over the next two years and estimates for population growth drop to zero during the same five years.