Hundreds more Harris County inmates to be transferred to Louisiana after private West Texas prison closes

Hundreds of Harris County prisoners will be sent to another private facility out of state after the upcoming closure of a northwest Texas prison that previously housed pretrial inmates from the Houston area.

The Giles W. Dalby Correctional Facility, located in Garza County, about 500 miles from Harris County, previously housed about 500 Harris County inmates awaiting trial. The facility is now scheduled to close by the end of the month, so Harris County prisoners will be brought back to the Houston area and then transferred to the Natchitoches Parish Detention Center in Louisiana by Nov. 1.

“The closure of the Dalby Unit is not expected to have a significant impact on the operations of the Harris County Jail,” said Jason Spencer, chief of staff for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

As of this week, a total of 265 prisoners were still being held at Dalby and were expected to be transferred by September 26, Spencer said.

The Dalby facility is operated by Management & Training Corporation, which operates more than 80 facilities nationwide. In 2022, Harris County commissioners approved a $25 million contract with MTC to outsource approximately 500 inmates from the Harris County Jail to the Dalby facility. Additionally, Tarrant County approved a 500-bed contract in October.

However, the contract between MTC and Tarrant County was short-lived after the Texas Commission on Correctional Standards discovered several security violations at the Dalby facility in December. Despite addressing those issues, Tarrant County commissioners ultimately voted to end the county’s contract with MTC at the end of September. Harris County’s contract with MTC remained intact.

However, according to MTC, the cancellation of the Tarrant County contract left a financial void that the company has struggled to fill, despite its attempts to “create new partnerships that would justify the need for the facility’s capacity.”

“While these discussions are ongoing, they have not yet resulted in definitive agreements that will ensure the long-term viability of the facility,” the company said in a statement.

That is why MTC has decided to cancel its contract with Harris County. It is worth noting that, in a point that seems to contradict the cancellation of the contract, the company states that it is still working to “negotiate the necessary agreements to keep the facility operational” and that if it is not successful, the facility will close by September 30.

The continued expansion of outsourcing outside the state

County officials have used outsourcing contracts to address chronic overcrowding and understaffing at the Harris County Jail, a temporary solution that is costing the county more than $50 million. The Natchitoches facility, located more than 200 miles away in Louisiana, will be the third out-of-state private facility to house Harris County pretrial detainees, joining the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Mississippi and the LaSalle Correctional Center in Louisiana.

The Natchitoches facility was previously operated by the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office, but that changed earlier this week when local officials reached a five-year agreement with LaSalle to operate and staff the detention center.

It is the same private prison company that operates the LaSalle Correctional Facility, where Jaleen Anderson spent his final days. He was arrested on drug charges in early March and quickly transferred to Louisiana. He died just 12 days after arriving in Louisiana.

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Anderson’s death raises questions about liability when it comes to Texas prisoners who die outside the state. According to Brandon Wood, executive director of the state prison commission, they can’t punish Harris County for deaths that occur outside the state — even if the people are still in the county’s custody. They also can’t penalize LaSalle.

“Given that the individual is no longer confined in the state of Texas, we believe that our authority and ability to process this specific inmate essentially stops at the state line,” Wood said.

LaSalle did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Miranda Suarez of KERA contributed to this report.