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Article: TEXAS COUNTY JAILS TAKING IN BOARDERS\States find transferring inmates cheaper than building prisons.(NEWS)
- Article from:
- Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
- Article date:
- February 11, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Daily News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Sam Howe Verhovek The New York Times
After tripling the size of its prison system in five years and clearing out a huge backlog of inmates it had held in county jails, Texas has embarked on an improbable venture: It has become the nation's leading importer of prisoners from other states.
Many state prison systems are packed to dangerous levels - on average, their populations are 17 percent above intended capacity, according to the latest U.S. Justice Department figures. But in Texas, even as the state's new prisons fill up with its own inmates as fast as they are opened, there are about 20,000 beds in county jails that are at least temporarily ...