Each offender is evaluated upon admission to the facility and an individualized treatment plan is designed to offer maximum rehabilitation. In addition to housing state jail felons, state jails also serve as transfer facilities for minimum security offenders being transferred from local county jails to state prisons. Of the seventeen state jail facilities, twelve are staffed by TDCJ employees and directly operated by TDCJ through the State Jail Division. The remaining five state jails are operated under contract with private vendors who provide staff and management of the facilities. Vendor performance under the contracts is monitored by State Jail Division Administrators.
Standards of service are the same whether the facility is state operated or vendor operated.
In 1998, State jail facilities across the state housed approximately 10,000 state jail felons and roughly 13,000 transfer-status offenders. Designed to house from 600 to 2,100 offenders, each unit offers core rehabilitative programming which includes substance abuse prevention and awareness education, basic literacy curricula, life skills orientation, and vocational training. Programs The State Jail Division and the Community Justice Assistance Division are official partners in the development and implementation of programs in the state jails. Together they have created an initiative that focuses on reducing recidivism among younger, nonviolent offenders and gives every offender the opportunity to become responsible, productive members of their communities. Education Educational programming and services are offered through the auspices of the Windham School District and Continuing Education Program.