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Houston Detainees Shipped to Private Jails in Mississippi and Louisiana
by Anthony W. Accurso
With the Harris County Jail (HCJ) short 139 guards, minimum staffing ratios set by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) have mathematically capped the number of beds that can be filled at the Houston lockup. As a result, the County has been shipping …
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More from this issue:
- FCC Slashes Prison and Jail Phone Rates, Caps Video Call Cost, Eliminates “Site Commission” Kickbacks
- From the Editor
- Missouri Prisoner Executed After Making—and Losing—New Plea Deal
- Three BOP Prisoners Sentenced for Murder of “Whitey” Bulger at West Virginia Lockup
- At Oklahoma Lockup: Deputy Warden Fired and Arrested in Smuggling Scheme, Guards Charged in Prisoner’s Assault
- Alabama Prisoner Disciplined for Lying When Guard Cleared of Sexual Assault Allegation
- DOJ Opens Investigation Into Sex Abuse at Two California Women’s Prisons
- Three Former Rikers Island Guards Among Five Ex-Employees Charged in Massive Smuggling Scheme
- Crucial Surveillance Video Missing in Nevada Prisoner’s Homicide Caused by Guards
- Advanced Correctional Healthcare Ends Two Suits Over Deaths at Ohio Jail
- Texas Holds 1 in 41 Prisoners in Solitary Confinement
- Maine State Prison Warden Replaced As Misconduct Allegations Investigated
- Second Circuit: New York Prisoner’s Religious Discrimination Need Not Show a “Substantial” Burden of Beliefs, by Douglas Ankney
- Missouri Prisoners Losing Reentry Money to “Incarceration Reimbursement”
- Mistrial for Vermont Sheriff Who Kicked Shackled Detainee
- Georgia Guard Gets 15 Years for Using One Prisoner to Assault Another
- $1.8 Million Jury Award for San Diego Jail Overdose Death, by Matthew Clarke
- More Alabama Prisoners Murdered in Overcrowded Lockups
- Paternity Questions Dog Miami Jail Birth
- Federal Watchdog, SCOTUS Fail to Limit Solitary Confinement Abuses, by Douglas Ankney, Anthony Accurso
- America’s Prison Profiteers from Colonial Times Until Now, by Douglas Ankney
- Unequal Before the Law, by Stephanie Woodard
- North Carolina Expands Supervision for Mentally Ill Probationers, by Anthony Accurso
- South Carolina Prison Guard Supervisor Charged With Taking Over $219,000 in Bribes to Smuggle Cellphones
- New TV Show Dramatizes Prisoner’s Re-entry
- Alaska Supreme Court: DOC Can’t Unilaterally Redefine ‘Parole Release Date’, by Douglas Ankney
- Sixth Circuit Sets Up Circuit Split with Ruling on Michigan Prisoner’s PLRA Exhaustion Dispute
- Mentally Ill Detainee Allegedly “Stomped” In the Head By South Carolina Jailer, by Anthony Accurso
- Watchdog Calls for Hawaii Prisons, Jails to Stop Using Restraint Chairs
- Seventh Circuit Avoids Deciding Whether Wisconsin Statute of Limitations Tolls from Prisoner’s Incident or Grievances, by David Reutter
- Parole Denied for Indigenous Activist Leonard Peltier
- Florida Reentry “Success” Story: Convicted Embezzler Promoted to Oversee Miami-Dade County Contracts
- Ohio Pays $725,000 to Survivors of Two Prisoners Beaten to Death by Lying Guards
- Rural Washington County Shutters Its Jail
- Two Wrongful Tennessee Convictions Result in Payouts Over $1 Million
- Massachusetts Appeals Court Revives Prisoners’ Challenge to DOC Trust Account Policy Change, by Douglas Ankney
- Rural Areas Increasingly Reliant on Imprisoned Emergency Responders
- Houston Detainees Shipped to Private Jails in Mississippi and Louisiana, by Anthony Accurso
- California Bar Accuses L.A. Lawyer of Deceiving Prisoners Seeking Resentencing
- Alabama Warden and Wife Busted for Making “Magic” Mushrooms
- Illinois Pays $3 Million for Subjecting Prisoners to Degrading Mass Strip Search, by Anthony Accurso
- Transgender BOP Prisoner in Arizona Wins $10,243 for Guard’s Negligence
- Former California Jail Guards Plead Guilty to Fatal Beating of Mentally Ill Detainee
- Minnesota’s $100 Million-Per-Year Civil Commitment Program Has No “Discernible Impact” on Sex Crimes
- Federal Prisoner Will Appear on Alaska Congressional Ballot
- $7.25 Million Paid for Psychotic Detainee’s Suicide After 20 Days in Solitary at Indiana Jail
- Iowa Qualified Immunity Law Lets County Off the Hook for Guard’s Sex Abuse of Jail Detainee
- Impoverished Ohio County Gets New Jail Space After Settling Suit for Bloody Detainee Assault
- Indiana Sheriff Pleads Guilty to Corruption, County Pays $328,000 to Jail Detainees for “Night of Terror”, by Douglas Ankney
- Third Circuit Finds Relation-Back Rule Misapplied to Philadelphia Prisoner’s “Crappy” Ordeal Lawsuit, by David Reutter
- Florida Court of Appeals Reinstates Voter Fraud Charges Against Ex-Felons
- Colorado Prisoner Forces Correctional Health Partners to Treat His Colon Disease, by Douglas Ankney
- Ninth Circuit Provides Cover to Oregon Governor for Prioritizing Guards Over Prisoners for COVID-19 Vaccine, by Douglas Ankney
- Suspended South Carolina Sheriff Acquitted of Using Excessive Force on Jail Detainee
- Nailing Down “Top Cop” Kamala Harris on Criminal Justice Reform
- Prisoners Reportedly Locked in Showers in Oklahoma, Florida, by David Reutter
- CDCR Slammed for Reclassifying Staff Misconduct Allegations as Routine Grievances, by Anthony Accurso
- Maryland Extends Contract with YesCare Despite Bankruptcy of Predecessor Corizon Health
- After Positive Drug Test, Kentucky Prisoners Allegedly Forced to Choose Between Tasing or Drinking Urine, by David Reutter
- News in Brief
More from Anthony Accurso:
- The Systematic Terror of Rankin County’s “Goon Squad”, May 1, 2026
- Virginia Prisoners Stuck Waiting for Education Programs, Feb. 1, 2026
- $939,000 for Nevada Prisoner Left in Wheelchair by Delayed Back Pain Treatment, Jan. 1, 2026
- Ninth Circuit Affirms Exclusion of Plea Agreement’s Factual Basis, Holding Unaccepted “Type A” Plea Agreement Unenforceable to Trigger Waiver of Rule 410 Protections, Dec. 15, 2025
- America’s Deadliest Jails: Tarrant County Edition, Nov. 1, 2025
- Seventh Circuit Dismisses Jail Detainee Suicide Case for Lack of Showing Deliberate Indifference, Nov. 1, 2025
- Protecting Your Digital Privacy, Oct. 15, 2025
- Idaho Supreme Court Announces Warrantless Search of Civilly Committed Individual Violates Fourth Amendment, Oct. 15, 2025
- Michigan Supreme Court Announces Guidance on Standards for Search Warrants of Cellphones to Satisfy Particularity Requirement of Fourth Amendment That “Reasonably Direct” Search to Uncovering Evidence of Criminal Activity Identified in Warrant, Oct. 15, 2025
- Sixth Circuit: Erlinger Error Requires Resentencing Where Government Cannot Prove Beyond Reasonable Doubt That Jury Would Find Prior Offenses Committed on Different “Occasions”, Oct. 15, 2025
More from these topics:
- $3.25 Million Verdict in New York Against Jail Medical Profiteer Armor Health, July 1, 2026. Private Prisons, Misconduct/Corruption, Medical, Conditions of Confinement, Civil Rights Actions or Offenses/Bivens Actions.
- $5 Million Paid by Colorado County for Jail Detainee’s “Gruesome” Death from Untreated Ulcer; Claims Proceeding Against Southern Health Partners, June 1, 2026. Private Prisons, Systemic Medical Neglect, Private Contractors, Failure to Treat, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights.
- Monitor Says Massachusetts Prisons Will Not Meet Settlement Deadline for Mental Health Reforms, May 1, 2026. Private Prisons, DOC/BOP misconduct, Consent Decrees, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides.
- Tulsa Jail Withholds Records Related to Detainee Deaths, April 1, 2026. Private Prisons, Wrongful Death, Suicides, Access to Media, Public Records Act.
- Analysts Recommend Closing California’s Soledad Prison, April 1, 2026. Private Prisons, Cost of Prison Systems.
- More Measles Cases Detected at Jails in New Mexico and Texas, April 1, 2026. Private Prisons, Contagious Disease -- Misc., Overcrowding, Jail Specific, Immigration Detention.
- ICE Taps New Contractor to Run Deadly Detention Center in Texas, April 1, 2026. Private Prisons, Contractor Misconduct, Systemic Medical Neglect, Totality of Conditions, Immigration Detention.
- News in Brief, Aug. 1, 2025. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Private Prisons, Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct, Systemic Medical Neglect, Male Reproductive, Malpractice, Escapes, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Stun Guns/Tasers, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Restraints, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Juvenile Prisons, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Bribery/Extortion/Theft.
- Tennessee Legislature Passes Bill to Penalize Private Prisons for High Mortality Rates, Aug. 1, 2025. Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic.
- Shady Firm Awarded $78 Million Contract for Services at Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz”, Aug. 1, 2025. Private Prisons, Environmental Law, Immigration.

