By: Leedom, Lucio S.C.R. No. 5 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, Presently there are approximately 53,000 inmates in 1-2 the Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Institutional Division 1-3 and another 20,000 in county jails awaiting transfer to the state 1-4 system; and 1-5 WHEREAS, Additional building costs and payments to counties 1-6 in lieu of accepting their prisoners will cost the state over $800 1-7 million during the next biennium; and 1-8 WHEREAS, Even this ambitious building program will be 1-9 inadequate to keep pace with the projected growth of the prison 1-10 inmate population which is expected to rise to over 92,000 by 1996; 1-11 and 1-12 WHEREAS, Prison overpopulation is not only expensive, but 1-13 also increases the early release of unrehabilitated criminals 1-14 resulting in convicted felons serving only 13 percent of their 1-15 sentences down from 33 percent in 1985; and 1-16 WHEREAS, This high turnover of prisoners provides little 1-17 deterrent to crime resulting in a 43 percent rate of recidivism 1-18 within three years of release; and 1-19 WHEREAS, New solutions should be explored to mitigate 1-20 problems related to crime, corrections, and recidivism which plague 1-21 our society; now, therefore, be it 1-22 RESOLVED by the 73rd Legislature of the State of Texas, That 1-23 the Criminal Justice Policy Council investigate the desirability of 2-1 contracting with one or more foreign governments for the placement 2-2 of prisoners from the institutional division of the Texas 2-3 Department of Criminal Justice for confinement within the 2-4 jurisdiction of that government; and, be it further 2-5 RESOLVED, That the policy council report, not later than 2-6 December 31, 1994, for consideration by the 74th Legislature its 2-7 findings, including the identification of any legal impediments and 2-8 required remedial actions; cost-benefits; humaneness; deterrent or 2-9 rehabilitative potential; the ability of the government to 2-10 guarantee that the correctional facilities and operational 2-11 standards will meet requirements of state and federal mandates; 2-12 access to and supervision by Texas Department of Criminal Justice 2-13 personnel; or any other relevant criminal justice or corrections 2-14 value of this concept.