The Texas Code of Criminal Procedures requires the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to make available a checklist of required documents for counties’ use when transporting offenders for a period of incarceration in the TDCJ. Since the prison population boom in the early 1990s, TDCJ has expanded the types of available bed space to more appropriately address both the risk and need levels of offenders in its custody. The primary facilities used by the courts for sentencing offenders are the traditional prisons, state jails, and Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facilities (SAFPFs). As the agency expanded its varying bed types, documentation requirements for accepting the offenders also expanded. To date, the TDCJ Classification and Records Department maintains a total of five forms (three document checklists and two admissions forms) that the counties are required to use when transferring offenders to TDCJ.
Over the past several months, the Research, Evaluation and Development (RED) Group has worked with Classification & Records staff to evaluate its current intake document process. The evaluation included a review of the quality of information received by the counties in relation to the statutory requirements and an assessment of the checklists currently used. The analysis of the information revealed that the agency could benefit from a restructuring of its current operations and documentation requirements. To this end, the RED Group facilitated a series of meetings with internal agency staff and collaborated with external entities to provide input to a revised system operation. For this project, collaborative partnerships were enhanced with the Texas Association of Counties and the Office of Court Administration.
The internal/external agency collaborative partnerships resulted in the streamlining of documentation requirements placed upon the counties. The working group eliminated duplicate information, clarified document requirements, and synthesized five currently-used checklists into one multi-purpose checklist that can be used for any sentence type. Creating one checklist also lays the groundwork for a “paperless” transfer and intake process in the future - part of a state and nationwide initiative to automate criminal offender data.
Agency staff has worked with county officials to sponsor educational forums across the state to discuss the newly-implemented changes and to respond to issues that county officials may have with regards to agency operations. As of this writing, forums have been scheduled for Harris, Tarrant, Dallas, and Bexar Counties. Other sites identified but not scheduled include Travis, Jefferson, Nueces, and El Paso Counties.
Educational forums will also be hosted in regions to maximize the number of counties who participate and to allow for the clustering of smaller counties. Scheduling of the forums has been completed and county officials are excited about further enhancing their relationships with the state.
For details on scheduled forum dates or to view a copy of the new checklist with attendant instructions, contact Lorrie Weber at (936) 437-6251.
