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After a recent slew of damning headlines regarding conditions within Texas prisons, reform advocates and lawmakers are hopeful that the timing is right to get legislation passed creating independent oversight of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
State Rep. Jarvis Johnson, D-Houston, and state Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, filed identical bills in their respective chambers last week calling for a governor-appointed, independent ombudsman's office to oversee and investigate complaints against the prison agency. The criminal justice department currently has an ombudsman within the agency, but Johnson and Miles say detaching it from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice would free it to more objectively report findings to lawmakers without repercussions.
“You just can’t have the fox watching the henhouse,” Johnson said. “They’re not doing their job.”
Under the bills, the ombudsman’s office would move under the purview of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, a separate agency overseen by a board appointed by the governor. The commission would provide office space, human resources and budgetary support to the ombudsman's office.
The ombudsman’s office documented resolving over 35,000 issues reported by inmates, their family members and the general public in its latest report — detailing work from October 2016 to September 2017. Complaints ranged from visitation inquiries, access to and denial of medical care and allegations of unprofessional prison staff conduct.
Miles first filed Senate Bill 188 on Nov. 14, and Johnson filed House Bill 363 a day later. The bills mirror those filed by the same legislators in 2017. The Senate bill never received a committee hearing. The House version was passed through the House Committee on Corrections, but only after a complete overhaul that included removing the creation of an independent ombudsman.
Johnson said for the 2019 session, he’s adjusted his approach and has made the bill a top priority for his legislative agenda. Miles and Johnson filed the bills early for this upcoming session, unlike in 2017 when they waited until session had already started. And the Democrats picked up 12 additional seats in the house, potentially providing a little more blue oomph for the bill.
“This time I’m coming back with a lot more energy and emphasis on it,” he said. “There’s a better chance of it passing when you go after it 100 percent.”
Advocacy groups also said that they are optimistic that the timing is right for the idea, since the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has endured a difficult year in the public eye. The Houston Chronicle reported in February that suicide attempts in Texas prisons have more than doubled in the last four years. And over the summer, the agency faced a scandal over a short-lived quota system in which prison officers were punished if they didn't hand out enough disciplinary measures. Four prison workers were indicted in the fallout from that scandal on allegations that they planted a screwdriver in an inmate's cell.
