Texas Department of Criminal Justice

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The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails and private correctional facilities, funding and certain oversight of community supervision, and supervision of offenders released from prison on parole or mandatory supervision.

History

In 1848, the Texas Legislature passed "An Act to Establish a State Penitentiary", which created an oversight board to manage the treatment of convicts and administration of the penitentiaries. Land was acquired in Huntsville and Rusk for later facilities.

The prison system began as a single institution, located in Huntsville, Texas. The Department was and still is the only state agency based outside the capital of Austin. A second prison facility, Rusk Penitentiary, began receiving convicts in January of 1883.

Various administrative changes regarding the organization of the managing board of the department occurred over the next one hundred years. In 1989, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Board of Criminal Justice were created. The Board is composed of nine members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate to six year overlapping terms. This new agency absorbed the functions of many state agencies.

Going to TDCJ

After being sentenced accordingly, an offender usually has to wait 1-3 months until they "catch the chain" to TDCJ. After that the authorities of the County Jail will transfer custody to TDCJ as the prison bus or van comes for pickup. They then will be transported to an intake unit where they will be processed generally over a series of days for medical evaluations, sociological evaluations, and generally get oriented with prison in general. Movies are shown explaining the rules and what is generally needed to be known. The quality of life on the intake units is inferior to that of the units where offenders are transferred to which are known as ID (Institutional Division)units. On intake and transfer units recreation is usually limited, and other privileges and commodities such as reading materials and illegal drugs are not readily available. The attitude of the guards working transfer units is generally worse than the guards working on ID units due to the difference in the types of offenders housed there. According to policy, offenders with 2 year sentences could do all of their time at a transfer or intake unit though its highly unlikely. Most offenders get their S2 (trustee) status after 6 months and are transferred to an ID unit to do the rest of their time even if they just have a 2 year sentence. Going to an ID unit from an intake unit is a relief to most offenders due to the extra privileges and better treatment in general.

Major Divisions

The department encompasses the following major divisions:

• Correctional Institutions Division
• Pardons and Paroles Division
• Community Justice Assistance Division

Food Services

In TDCJ offenders are fed 3 meals a day, breakfast usually beginning at 3am-5am. It is served this early due to inmates 'catching the chain' to other units and because a lot of offender jobs begin early at 5-6am on up. All meals are prepared completely by offenders, the menu is set by nutritionists at TDCJ and is overseen by the TDCJ Kitchen staff. Pancakes are served quite frequently in TDCJ, most offenders who are released find humor in remembering how many times they ate pancakes while in TDCJ. Pancakes in TDCJ are served with prunes, oatmeal, peanut butter and powdered or small cartons of milk or water. Other main dishes in TDCJ include tamale casserole, pork lasagna, chicken sandwiches, tuna salad, pork chops(small), fried chicken (rare,small), pizza (kitchen made). Side dishes in TDCJ are usually some form of beans (navy beans, lima beans, pinto beans, black eyed peas), mixed vegetables, fruit salad, brownies(small), cakes(small). Beans are generally eaten almost every day due to the nutritionist being able to alott 4oz of 8oz of the daily protein requirement as beans and not meat.

Special dietary needs such as vegetarians, pork free (for religious and other offenders who do not eat pork), and renal diets etc are handled by the Food Services division daily. Vegetarians are generally given 2 scoops of beans or substituted 2 cheese sandwiches as are pork free trays to substitute the missing pork item. If an offender does not receive their special dietary needs they can choose to file a grievance. Usually it isn't necessary but it does happen.

TDCJ grows and farms much of the food that is eaten by the offenders. Squash and okra are picked from the fields while pork chops, ham patties and other items are farmed on pig farms. The pigs are fed the leftover food that the offenders choose to throw away in a slop barrel and are raised by the offenders on the select units with pig farms. Beans generally come out of a can and are simply heated up although there are some instances where the beans come out of a bag and must be fully cooked in the kitchen. Basic spices are available to the offenders in the kitchen to use while cooking however no excessively spicy spices are available. At certain units with an officer kitchen (many of the guards in TDCJ eat the food too because its free and its not all that bad)all spices are generally available to use in the meals for guards such as cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic etc. Officer dining rooms and kitchens have foods that aren't available to offenders such as cakes, ODR grills where the officer can place their order in the morning for fried eggs and ham or whatever else they wish.

The kitchen is generally one of the more prestigious jobs in TDCJ for offenders due to the extra food allowed. Many of the inmates are indigent and have no money to buy extra food from commissary so they are generally hungry most of the time. An offender can put in an I-60 (request form) to the kitchen and discuss a job change with their current boss if they want to get assigned to the kitchen though there are no guarantees of course. In the kitchen in TDCJ there are generally 4-5 line(1-10 lines per unit) servers, 2-10 kitchen cooks, a supply person or 2 which oversees the stock of items, back dock workers which handles the disposal of trash and pig slop. Offenders are also assigned to clean, sweep, and refill water, punch, powdered milk, or tea pitchers while chow is in progress. Generally there is also a "lead man" offender who makes sure everything gets done, usually the one in best standing with the kitchen guard. Kitchen workers are all allowed to eat extra chow that is left over, sometimes an unlimited amount depending on the unit. Food is not allowed to be taken out of the chow hall however some offenders choose to sneak it out and sell it for stamps or other goods they can barter with.

The chow hall in TDCJ is notorious for being a place of confrontation leading to a chow hall riot due to the large amount of offenders from various factions all being in the same place at once. It is reputed among guards and inmates alike for being volatile at times depending on what's going on in the unit. When the unit is on lockdown status, offenders don't eat at the chow hall at all. Food is delivered to the dorms or cells in form of a "johnny sack" containing 2 sandwiches either peanut butter and jelly or ham and cheese and prunes or raisins. People who aren't able to make it to the chow hall for whatever reason are also given a johnny sack to eat.

Institutional and State Jails (CID)

The divisions of the CID division that offenders are incarcerated in are the State Jail and Institutional Divisions. State Jail division is for those convicted of a State Jail Felony (the lowest degree of felony under Texas law max. 2 years) while the Institutional Division is responsible for the custody of inmates of higher degree felonies (2 years-Life/Death Sentence). Offenders in the State Jail Division are ineligible for parole and must do their time day-for-day 100% of the time on their sentence. Institutional Division offenders are able to receive Good Time as allowed by Texas Law, contributing to the fixed day that the offender is interviewed by the Parole Board. The Good Time is added to the actual physical time that an inmate has been incarcerated and is applied towards the actual sentence. However, there are several clauses in which an offender can lose it. Good Time can be taken due to a major write up (write ups are known as disciplinary cases in TDCJ. Being that there is no good time or parole in State Jail, it has been known in some cases to actually foster more errant behavior than the more serious Institutional Division.

Pardons and Paroles Division

The Parole Division handles all pardon and parole matters within TDCJ. An offender in the Institutional Division comes up for parole after a fixed amount of time depending on their sentence length. 2 year sentences come up for parole after 4 months of total time incarcerated (real time, the 4 months is added in with the Good Time to formulate how much time is considered against the sentence). Any time spent in the County Jail in Texas is automatically applied towards the prison sentence factoring in good time even if the offender isn't in the prison system. In some rare cases in the past, paroling has been allowed in abstentia if the inmate has for whatever reason been in county jail long enough to be seen by parole and make parole therefore not even going through the prison system. Recently that has changed though, requiring the prisoner to 'catch the chain' to Huntsville for basic processing into the TDCJ system briefly then sending them to the Walls Unit(Huntsville) to process out. Support letters and having family support are factors in the offender obtaining parole, as is the nature of the crime that is committed. If an offender does not have a place to list in their parole interview, they must choose from a list of halfway houses which will result in further delay and possibly denial of parole. There is no typical parole case really, but as was noted earlier there are certain standards that are generally followed.

After a parolee is sent to the Walls Unit to process out, they must spend 1 night processing out and complete their processing out the next day. A brief class is given before the final release of offenders giving a general what-to-do and what-not-to do. Offenders are made clear that the local authorities receive information regarding the former offenders are going to be living in their towns/cities. Upon the exit of the Walls Unit inmates are able to pick from donated clothes and receive a $50 check(mandatory), and a bus ticket voucher to go to the offenders home city plus whatever money they have left on their commissary account in another check. The offenders are then walked around the building and led out to a street right outside the unit where a convenience store is available to cash checks and buy various goods such as cigarettes, cigars, T shirts ect. No alcohol is available at this store, and the building conjoins with a Greyhound Bus station for the offenders to check in and wait on their scheduled bus. During the time that the offenders are waiting on the bus (can be anywhere from 1-3 hours depending on location) there are a few diner style restaurants in the area that are available. Offenders are required to report to their parole officer the very next day after being released where basic information is exchanged, along with another $50 check.

While on parole, all offenders are required to attend a 12 step meeting of their choice (NA, CA,AA ect) although some parole officers may allow the offender to attend SOS or other alternative rehabilitative programs (religious ect). There are varying degrees of supervision and stipulations by Parole depending on the crime they committed. Sex offenders are sent to a special officer for more intensive supervision and are required to undergo counseling and other various activities. All parolees are subject to random drug testing by policy, though generally they are given at 2 or 3 month intervals depending on the officer. However, as it was said a drug test can be ordered at any time by the parole officer. A first negative drug test depending on what it was for (marijuana yields less serious punishment than harder drugs) may result in the offender having to go to additional monthly drug classes which cost the offender $100 or more a month on top of their $15 monthly parole fee. Parolees are required to be employed or in college while on parole though it is not strictly enforced (some people can go months without finding a job realistically). Parolees in texas are not allowed to visit "persons or places of disreputable or harmful character" which can be interpreted as strip clubs, people with warrants, ect. Pool halls generally seem to be ok to visit while on parole in Texas. If a parolee is arrested or has a serious violation they can be sent to an ISF facility for a 90 day period if the infraction isn't serious enough to warrant a full blown revokal of parole. If parole is revoked entirely the offender is subject to losing their good time and their street time, effectively going further back in their sentence than when they were released and generally must do most or all of their sentence.

Windham School District and education in TDCJ

Windham School District was created in 1969 to provide adult education in Texas prisons. The district was the first school system of its size to be established within a statewide prison system. Windham is one of the largest correctional education systems in the nation, providing educational programs and services in most Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) facilities. All offenders without their GED or High School Diploma are required to attend GED classes and testing while in TDCJ. Windham also administers life skills, parenting, and other various rehabilitative classes. Basic IQ testing and educational evaluations for offenders processing in. All offenders are subjected to evaluation testing regardless of their education or background. This process usually takes 3 hours or more due to the paperwork involved and is done on a class by class basis of about 20-40 offenders at a time. Basic PC computers are available in the classrooms for testing and learning purposes, no internet access or email exists for offenders in the TDCJ system. The computers are maintained by inmates who have knowledge in PC repair and are generally vastly outdated (none are above 1Ghz whatsoever).

Depending on the particular unit, Windham Schools also maintain the law and conventional libraries that are available to offenders. Law libraries are available to all offenders in TDCJ although they must first fill out an I-60 request form to request an appointment to visit. Conventional libraries in TDCJ contain many donated books and older, out of date magazines although some libraries are able to acquire newer magazines from various sources. While the offender is in an intake or transit unit access to a conventional library and reading materials may not be possible although some units do make them available.

Recreational activities

All offenders are allowed to participate in various recreational activities while they are not at work. In the day room offenders may play dominos or chess and watch basic antenna channels on TV. Outside recreation is allowed for various amounts of time depending on your unit and offender status. Trustees are generally allowed to have outside recreation at any time they want while not at work and its not dark outside. Outside recreational activities allowed include: running, exercise, basketball, handball, walking, etc. Boxing or martial arts and other combative sports are prohibited although the rec yard is known as the spot where guys go to "handle up" if they have a problem with another offender. Offenders usually find secluded places like behind a handball court to fight out of view of the guards. Gambling is usually commonplace (although prohibited), offenders playing for stamps or food items as their wager on the various games.

Many offenders choose other outlets to spend their time such as drawing, writing letters, reading magazines and books (that are sent in via subscription or mailed from a bookstore). There are many extremely talented artists in TDCJ, many of them having had years upon years to practice and refine their trade. Offenders without money on their accounts often turn to artwork as a means to create art to sell or trade to other offenders for necessities like stamps and other items. Surpisingly, Dungeons and Dragons is very popular inside TDCJ. Every unit has at least 1 or more group of players that play Dungeons and Dragons except the intake units. The role play in Dungeons and Dragons is very effective at providing a sense of escape from prison life.

Allowed reading material to be sent in has become very strict, items such as certain books that talk about conspiracies or contain stories of other people committing crimes are prohibited and the offender will be forced to have the item destroyed by staff or sent home in some cases. Magazines are allowed to be sent in to an offender on a subscription basis or mailed in from a bookstore only. Someone cant send books or magazines from home or they will be denied. Hardcore pornography also isn't allowed to be sent in any more, however many of the older units where guys do their time on have many of the hardcore magazines still in circulation. Currently softcore pornography such as Playboy is allowed in, with magazines about guns and illicit drugs prohibited.

Drugs in TDCJ

Mostly every drug that is available on the street is available in TDCJ depending on the unit and who you know. Tobacco isn't allowed in TDCJ yet it's readily available on virtually every unit as contraband. The tobacco and other drugs is usually smoked on trustee camps by offenders with high privileges that are allowed no direct supervision for various amounts of time. Offenders in non-trustee status are still able to do drugs but they are not as readily available. Most of the offenders just eat the drugs that are brought at visitation or will attempt to sneak them in after visitation despite being strip searched before and after visitation. Most of the drugs in TDCJ are brought in solely via offender action (prison gangs,solo offenders), however sometimes its due to the corruption of the guards. TDCJ takes many measures including searching its own guards when they report in for work. There have been instances where guards have been caught sneaking drugs in by various makeshift devices such as coke cans, or other items. There have even been reports of bottles of whiskey being confiscated from offenders who somehow got them in.

See also

• Capital punishment in Texas
• List of individuals executed in Texas
• List of Texas state prisons

External links

• Texas Department of Criminal Justice
• Windham School District
• Texas Prison Museum