TCJS first quarterly meeting of 2025 calls for action in Harris County
February 18, 2025
On February 6, Texas Jail Project attended the Texas Commission on Jail Standards' first quarterly meeting of 2025 with the network, Communities Not Cages. We called attention to Harris County's…
Topics: 2025news, Custody Death, Overcrowding, TCJS
Harris County
On February 6, Texas Jail Project attended the Texas Commission on Jail Standards’ first quarterly meeting of 2025 with the network, Communities Not Cages. We called attention to Harris County’s years-long failure to comply with minimum jail standards. Due to continued public pressure, the TCJS voted to involve the Texas Attorney General’s office with enforcement of these standards.
The fiscal and human cost of non-compliance has been enormous. Since 2021 we have spent over $58 million annually in transferring and housing thousands of pretrial detainees out of state. The three in-custody deaths in Louisiana, along with the 78 in our county jail since 2021 till date, have been a direct result of hyperincarceration.
Various news sources interviewed and cited Texas Jail Project, including abc13 and Houston Landing. Read our press release below.