DPS has spelled out the variety of incarcerated persons in a jail: pre-trial detainees who cannot make bail and a few accused of more serious crimes who don't have a bail option; pre-release individuals who have served their time; and people who are mentally ill or have drug addiction problems, making it difficult to manage a jail. However, there has apparently been no thought given to building smaller facilities that would house each of these groups in different locations.  Instead, DPS appears to be going to a "one-size-fits-all" approach, including subjecting the entire jail population to the highest level of security and treatment DPS believes necessary for the most severe cases--hardly an approach which is likely to reduce recidivism. 

Building smaller facilities would also allow for eventual adoption of de-institutionalization approaches that have proven successful in reducing crime elsewhere, without sticking us with a large building, much or all of which is no longer needed.