OFFICE OF GOVERNOR WILLIAM P.CLEMENTS JR. December 16, 1981 For Immediate Release: Governor Bill Clements today announced establishment of two new Governor's task forces to explore possibilities of relieving problems of overcrowdinn in state prisons. Governor Clements issued executive orders creating special study groups on incarceration of inmates pending appeal and on intellectually handicapped citizens and the criminal justice system. Membership of both,not to exceed 20 members each, will be named by the Governo, soon. Written reports on their studies and recommendations will be made to the Governor About 2,700 Texas prison inmates are still appealing their convictions. An estimated 2,000 inmates are considered mentally retarded, and an equal or greater number possess "borderline" intellectual capabilities. A possible course of action with respect to the inmates who have cases on appeal is to return them to the local incarceration facilities from which they were sent to the Texas Department of Corrections, one of the Governor's executive orders suggests. "It is fully understood that,if implemented, this plan may create an added burden for the respective local facilities involved," the order states. "It is believed (however) that the geographical distribution of these inmates throughout the state would not overly burden any one single facility, and yet,in turn , would help to alleviate the inmate housing problem within TDC." "It is suspected that citizens who fall in the (retarded) category...may. often be sentenced inappropriately, experience repeated failures, and have recidivistic contacts with the criminal justice system," the other new executive order states. "Determination of needs for this particular citizen population and the development of an equitable response to such needs lie beyond the present prison setting." One task force will examine advantages to the state prison system of remanding to local facilities those inmates who are appealing convictions as compared with the negative impact on city and county facilities of accepting them. The other group will study needs of retarded inmates and alternatives to imprisonment and probation and parole supervision. Both groups are charged with recommendina to the Governor any legislation or other action which their studies determine as necessary.
