If the Sheriff’s Office gets its budget request granted, inmates in Travis County correctional facilities may soon be sporting radio-frequency identification wristbands to track their whereabouts within the jail at all times. According to the Sheriff’s Office, it intends to use the technology to help contain coronavirus within the jail through contact-tracing and ensuring infected […]
Travis County jail
The county detention facility, located in Travis County.
Posted inPublic Safety
After public condemnation, county to rework correctional master plan
A highly anticipated Travis County Commissioners Court meeting Tuesday was more contentious than usual and lasted later into the evening to accommodate hours of public comments criticizing a plan to allocate $80 million to fund a new women’s jail. Though the item in question specifically referred to the $4.3 million design contract for the Travis […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Commissioners clap back at justice advocates protesting county jail plan
The Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday responded to pushback from criminal justice reform advocates upset at the county’s plan to approve a $4.2 million design contract for a new women’s jail. While commissioners ultimately decided to delay the motion until next week (in a non-unanimous vote), several of them pushed back on the advocates’ […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Criminal justice reformers push back on county jail renovations
Just outside the Travis County Commissioners Court at 700 Lavaca St. yesterday, a number of criminal justice reform groups held a press conference to protest Travis County’s plan to spend $600 million on construction and renovation of new jail facilities in the county. The plan, says Amanda Woog, executive director of the Texas Fair Defense […]
Posted inPublic Safety
County budget office weighs up new correctional complex
At their May 27 work session, Travis County commissioners fielded a presentation on the 20-year road map for the Travis County Correctional Complex. Representatives from the Planning and Budget Office, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, and the Justice Planning Department presented to commissioners on a range of topics, from demographic breakdowns of the facility population […]
Posted inTravis County
Travis County jail looks toward a more sustainable future
The Travis County Correctional Complex intends to implement a number of sustainability initiatives to reduce waste, save money and shrink the facility’s net energy use to zero by 2040, according to a presentation to the Travis County Commissioners Court last Tuesday. Shaun Auckland, a sustainability coordinator with Transportation and Natural Resources, told the commissioners about the […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Health care, religious leaders join call to reduce jail population amid Covid-19 threat
Leaders in the local health care and religious communities have forwarded a pair of letters to city and county officials calling for early release of more prisoners from the Travis County jail in hopes of preventing the spread of Covid-19 among inmates and staff. Several of the dozens of signees of the two letters participated […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Travis County jail treads carefully amid coronavirus
In big city jails across Texas, both inmates and corrections officers are testing positive for the coronavirus. The Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday that Covid-19 infections continue to rise in the Harris County jail, with 65 employees and 49 inmates testing positive for the virus. In the Dallas County jail, 31 inmates have tested positive, according […]
Posted inCity Council
Judicial Committee members call for efficient quick release process at county jail
On any given day, the majority of individuals held in the Travis County Jail have not yet had a trial or been convicted of the crime that landed them there, yet they cannot afford to pay the bondsman’s fee or cash bail amount needed to secure their release. Acknowledging the city’s limited authority in county […]
Posted inTravis County
County leaders champion no-cash bail
Amidst an aggressive push from activists to reduce arrests and incarceration, Travis County leaders highlighted two important initiatives Tuesday as evidence that the county is a leader in progressive criminal justice policy. First, the Travis County Commissioners Court quickly approved a request from Sheriff Sally Hernandez to close down four buildings at the Travis County […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Travis County leaders defend bail practices
For years, Travis County leaders have touted the county’s progressive bail policies, which allow a large percentage of the accused to get out of jail without posting a cash bond. Each person who is booked into jail on a charge is assessed by the county’s pretrial services division, which will usually recommend releasing the person […]
Posted inTravis County
Despite high arrest rate, county leaders give high marks to jail diversion program
A majority of criminal defendants who participated in a county pilot program aimed at getting people with mental illness out of jail and into treatment were rearrested within a year of their release. Yet, many involved in the criminal justice system say the program has been a success. For three and a half years, Travis […]