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                                         TDCJ Sunset

TCJC's Full Report and Recommendations for the Sunset Advisory Commission: Understanding The Public's Perceptions of Incarceration, Rehabilitation, Education, Re-Entry, & Other Issues: Recommendations for the Sunset Advisory Commission (June 2006) 

 

 

Executive Summary: Quick Overview of Full Report 

  1. Abstract
  2. Overview Findings
  3. Recommendations
  4. Aid Families of the Incarcerated  

 

 

View the Sunset Advisory Commission's Report on TDCJ (October 2006)

 
The following are excerpts from this report: 

Issue 1:        By Not Adequately Addressing Offender Rehabilitation Needs, the State’s Criminal Justice Efforts May Not Deter Recidivism, Increasing the Prison Population

 

Issue 2:        Lawmakers Do Not Have the Information Necessary to Effectively Manage the State’s Criminal Justice System and Plan for Its Future

 

Issue 3:        The Board of Pardons and Paroles Has Not Adequately Updated and Used Required Parole Guidelines to Help Ensure the Most Consistent, Appropriate Release Decisions

 

Issue 4:        Supervising Low-Risk Probationers Who Could Be Released From Probation Early Diverts Limited Resources From Probationers Needing More Intensive Supervision

 

Issue 5:        Keeping Low-Risk Offenders on Parole and Mandatory Supervision Who Could Be Released Early Can Divert Limited TDCJ Resources From Best Use

 

Issue 6:        Current Law Limits the Use and Effectiveness of Medically Recommended Early Release of Offenders, Increasing State Medical Costs

 

Issue 7:        Current Law Does Not Hold All Parole Decision Makers to the Same Standards of Objectivity and Independence

 

Issue 8:        Texas Has a Continuing Need for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice

 

Issue 9:        Due to Its Unusual Structure and Function, the Correctional Managed Health Care Committee Should Be Allowed to Continue, Removed From Sunset Review

 

Issue 10:      Offenders and the Public Have Limited Access to Information About Correctional Health Care, Leading to a Lack of Transparency in the System

 

 

Want more details?

Check out TCJC's testimony on October 25, 2006, regarding the Sunset Commission's Staff Report, along with our press release: Treatment, Rehab, Stonger Probation and Parole, Top Sunset Review Commission List of Proposed Reforms.  

TCJC also presented testimony at the Sunset Commission Hearing on November 14, 2006, in regards to the commission’s findings.

 

Read the Sunset Commission's Decision Material for TDCJ, the Board of Pardons and Paroles, and the Correctional Managed Health Care Committee. (December 2006) 

 
The Sunset Commission Review Board concluded that Texas prisons are overcrowded with thousands of unnecessary inmates because the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole hasn't followed its own parole guidelines for releasing prisoners.