Fort Bend prison slated for closure

A Fort Bend County prison for felony substance abuse offenders has been tapped to close, with state officials attributing the shut down to a decline in demand.

The Jester I Unit — a facility with a 323-prisoner capacity outside Richmond — is expected to shutter its doors by the end of 2020, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials, pointing to diversion, treatment and education programs for the drop in incarcerations. Its drug treatment program — and the prisoners in it — will be transferred to the Stringfellow Unit in Rosharon, according to documents from state Sen. John Whitmire’s office.

A second prison in Bee County, the Garza Unit in Beeville where about 1,980 prisoners can be housed, will also shut down by May 31, officials said.

Closing both units is expected to save the state $20 million a year, Whitmire (D-Houston) said in a

statement.

The extra budget can be used to “cover shortfalls in other areas and enhance security and services at the remaining facilities,” said Whitmire, the longtime chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee.

TDCJ executive director Bryan Collier said in a statement that he does not anticipate the loss of any jobs following the Garza and Jester closures, with Whitmire saying employees will be offered vacant positions at other prisons. About 71 full-time correction officers are still working at the Jester I Unit, according to documents.

Jester I employees were notified of the pending closure in late 2019.

The neighboring Jester II and Jester III Units, also on the Fort Bend County property, are expected to remain open. The Jester units, along with the neighboring Vance Unit, stretch across 914 acres. The state General Land Office noted in a 2016 report that while the property was encumbered by its locale in a floodplain, its other ideal use is for agriculture.

In the past decade, the state has ordered the closure of 10 prisons, including the most recent facilities in Fort Bend and Bee County. The Central Unit in Sugar Land was the first prison in Texas to close in 2011 after the Texas Legislature signed off on treatment and diversion program reforms in 2007. The closure saved about $12.4 million a year, officials said at the time.

Two more facilities outside Dallas closed in 2013.

At the time of the Central Unit closure, Texas was home to about 156,190 prisoners. As of Tuesday, TDCJ was housing about 140,530 offenders.