THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS Wednesday, July 8, 1987 Clements unveils prison plan $408 million proposal aimed at adding 19,346 inmate beds By George Kuempel Austin Bureau of The News AUSTIN — Gov. Bill Clements Tuesday unveiled plans to add 19,346 beds to the state's overcrowded prison system by 1991 at a cost of $408 million. Implementation of the plan, Clements said, will halt the early release of in- mates due to over- crowding and ensure that convicted felons "serve their sentences behind bars instead of on the streets." The plan lists sev- eral alternatives for fl- intier Scott nancing the expan- sion, including selling state bonds and using lease-purchase agreements to fund new prisons and contracting with coun- ties and private firms to care for inmates. It includes construction of five mini- mum-security trustee camps, four re- gional "reintegration centers," four shock probation centers and expansion of the Texas Department of Corrections Hospital and the Gatesville prison facil- ity. And it also calls for contracting with private companies to house 2,000 inmates. Rider Scott, the governor's chief legal counsel and executive director of the governor's Criminal Justice Division, said officials project that the prison sys- tem will be 9,816 beds short over the next two-year budget period, which ends Aug. 31, 1989, and 18,373 short by 1991. "During the next two years there may not be room for almost 10,000 felons who have been duly, legally convicted and sentenced by the courts because of a shortage of beds," Scott said at a Capitol news conference. The state signed a consent order in 1985 promising to keep the inmate popu- lation at 95 percent of capacity after U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice of Tyler ruled that the prison system was operating in an unconstitutional man- ner. The prison system, which can now house 40,402 inmates, was closed to new inmates briefly more than a dozen times this year because of overcrowding. Scott said the lack of prison space is affecting the entire criminal justice sys- tem. "Parole becomes overloaded as an es- cape valve, probation is restricted to a warning and has no leverage, defendants inside know their time is limited and pro- grams are meaningless," he said. "Faith in the criminal justice system to render 'justice' is waning." The Legislature already has taken a number of steps to deal with the problem, including passage of a proposed constitu- tional amendment that would authorize the state to issue up to $500 million in bonds to construct new prisons and Texas Youth Council and mental health facilities. That proposal will be submitted to the voters on Nov. 3. Another measure would authorize the state to contract with private companies and counties for the construction and op- eration of minimum-security prisons housing fewer than 500 inmates. Scott said that counties do not now have authority to finance prisons that will be leased to the state, but that Clements will ask the Legislature, meet- Please see $408 MILLION on Page 22A. $408 million prison plan unveiled Continued from Page 17A. ing in special session to consider budget issues, to pass legislation granting that power. The plans call for the state to add 10,950 beds during the next two- year budget period and 8,396 the fol- lowing biennium. Scott said it will cost the state an additional $68 million to operate the new prisons, $30 million of which already has been appropri- ated by the Legislature. Representatives of several groups and state agencies involved with law enforcement, as well as aides to Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby and Speaker Gib Lewis, D-Fort Worth, joined Scott in unveiling the plan. They included Charles Terre!, chairman of the Texas Criminal Justice Task Force; State Prison Di- rector James Lynaugh; Gordon Johnson, executive director of the Texas Sheriffs' Association; Henry King, chairman of the Board of Par- dons and Paroles; and Steve Capelle, executive director of the Texas Dis- trict and County Attorneys Associa- tion.