From KERA News:
A West Texas private prison that holds jail detainees from Tarrant and Harris counties is set to shut down at the end of September, months after the prison failed a state inspection without informing its clients.
KERA was the first to report on safety violations at the Giles W. Dalby Correctional Facility in Garza County, about 40 miles outside Lubbock.
Although the prison passed a later reinspection, Tarrant decided to end its contract early. Elected officials and staff said Dalby never told them about the violations. Officials in Harris County said they weren’t informed either but kept the contract in place.
Tarrant County commissioners set the contract’s end date for September 30 – the same day the prison is now expected to shut down.
Management & Training Corporation is Dalby’s parent company. The end of Tarrant County’s contract, and uncertain contract renewal talks with Harris County, led to the closure, MTC spokesperson Emily Lawhead said in an emailed statement.
“MTC has been working with Harris County and other potential agencies to create new partnerships that would justify the need for the facility’s capacity,” Lawhead wrote. “While those discussions are ongoing, they have not currently materialized into final agreements that will ensure the long-term viability of the facility.”
Harris County has already begun transferring people out of Dalby, Harris County Sheriff’s Office Chief of Staff Jason Spencer said in an emailed statement.
“As of today, a total of 265 inmates still remain at Dalby and we expect to be fully moved out by Sept. 26,” he said.
The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office would not share the number of people the county has brought back from Dalby or how many remain.
“We do not discuss current operating movement of inmates for safety and security reasons. There is a plan in place to remove inmates by the end of the month,” spokesperson Robbie Hoy wrote in an emailed statement.
The county sent local prisoners to Dalby in part because of safety renovations that would shut down parts of the jail, and in part because of persistent understaffing problems. Tarrant County commissioners have approved $40 million worth of contracts with Dalby since 2022, and the latest contract provided 500 beds.
Tarrant County has “plenty of room” for the people coming back from Dalby, Hoy wrote.
Dalby is Garza County’s biggest employer, and about 170 jobs are on the line, Garza County Judge Lee Norman told KERA Friday.
“We are actively looking for a new operator. The need for county beds in the state is quite high,” he said. “We’ve got to have a company we can work with.”
Dalby served as an overflow facility for Harris County, too. The ballooning jail population there has led to multiple outsourcing contracts with private prisons throughout the South, Houston Public Media reports.
The Texas Commission on Jail Standards — the state regulatory agency for county jails — will monitor Tarrant and Harris counties as they move prisoners out of Dalby, Assistant Director Ricky Armstrong said Friday.
“We’ll keep an eye on both jails to make sure that their populations don’t increase over their staffing levels or their capacity,” he said.
Harris County has signed a new outsourcing contract with Natchitoches Parish Detention Center in Natchitoches, La., effective Nov. 1, according to Spencer.
“Therefore, the closing of the Dalby Unit is not expected to have any significant impact on the Harris County Jail operation,” he wrote.
This story has been updated with comments from the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.
Houston Public Media reporter Lucio Vasquez contributed to this report.
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org. You can follow Miranda on Twitter @MirandaRSuarez.
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