TDCJ scales back employee searches



By: Mark Summers, Backgate Website
06/30/09


As of about noon on July 29th, TDCJ has scaled back on the employee searches that were initiated almost a year ago after state legislator John Whitmire got a cell phone call from a death row inmate. The searches, which included a scan by a metal detector, and a hands on pat down search by a TDCJ officer have been scaled back to searches on a random basis.  The Backgate website printed a story almost two weeks ago that detailed how searches, by TDCJ records, were not actually stopping the introduction of contraband.

The searches were snaring the honest employees, but were not slowing the introduction of contraband by the dirty employees as shown by the documentation that the Backgate website obtained.  The story outlined how good, honest employees were being disciplined for accidentally bringing in currency over the $25 limit by 2-3 dollars. Accidentally bringing in their personal cell phones that were verified as being there own, and maybe even a cigarette lighter from their car. Disciplinary charges were altered by TDCJ just for accidental introductions. Good people have lost their jobs due to these rules.

"The influx of contraband has actually not changed since the inception of the new shakedown rules established by TDCJ", said one TDCJ administrator. " All we have accomplished is to put a lot of good people on probation due to minor issues." the source went on to state.

Those sentiments were echoed by the hundreds of emails that the Backgate site got detailing such issues. Areas such as the back gate, and the trusty camp areas of the unit were said to be ongoing targets in the slowing of contraband interdiction. TDCJ staffing plans have been stretched to the max over having to supply officers to shakedown positions 7-days per week. Key areas of the units are being neglected due to the necessity of staffing permanent shakedown positions. A situation that has put staff members at risk under some circumstances. 

Although something needs to be done to stop the entry of contraband into TDCJ facilities, employees shaking down employees is not going to stop it. Employees that work on the same units as those they are searching cannot effectively search co-workers and be objective in what they see. Peer pressure, and other issues weigh in to the process.

The Backgate has submitted an official request for statement on the issue. We will post that release as it becomes available. Texas senator John Whitmire is being featured in an interview by the Backgate website next month. We are sure this topic will be subject he will want to address. Stay tuned...


 
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Region III Darrington unit fighting back against contraband



By: Tonya Peters, Backgate Website
06/26/09

A new and improved management team at the Darrington unit in Rosharon have hit the ground running and taken a bite out of the the illegal contraband flow there. The team led by Senior Warden Brenda Chaney has collectively discovered dangerous contraband items such as cell phones, alcohol and tobacco by the box load in recent months.

The Darrington unit has historically held the title in region III for the highest levels of contraband present on a prison unit. The unit has also had to endure it's share of controversy in recent years with it's management woes. But just a week ago, administrators were informed of the possiblilty that one or more offenders had possibly escaped from the unit's outside trusty camp area. It was later determined that the offenders had merely gone into a nearby milo field to retrieve a package that contained several cell phones and tobacco products.

Two offenders got busted ! And were charged....

The Darrinton unit was established in 1917, and can house up to 1900 G1-G5 offenders. The unit sits on almost 7,000 acres.

We would like to send kudos to the hardworking administrators and staff that teamed up to take the Darrington unit back. Keep up the good work.


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District 25 State Representative speaks out to the Backgate Website



By: Duane Stuart, Backgate Website
06/22/09

District 25 state rep. Dennis Bonnen recently submitted a letter to the Backgate Website detailing his voting record for the past legislative sessions TDCJ pay raise initiative. Mr. Bonnen stated that although he wasn't on the appropriations committee that voted down the full 20% pay raise, that he did vote for the 7% raise that TDCJ employees will see in September.

  Mr. Bonnen stated that he has, and will always support the TDCJ employees in his district, a district that encompasses five TDCJ facilities in Brazoria county. Mr. Bonnen wanted us to report that he appreciates the work of TDCJ employees, and that he will continue to support TDCJ employee payraises in the future. He further stated that TDCJ employees have a tough job and that he, along with other Texas legislators realize that the work is tough, and employees are underpaid.


Good work Mr. Bonnen Hang in there.

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TDCJ population still creeping up, but tracking estimates



From our friends at the Grits for breakfast blog
06/22/09

• Harris: 15,276
• Dallas: 7,405
• Tarrant: 5,363
• Bexar: 4,669
• Travis: 3,143
• El Paso: 1,164

• Harris: 14,654
• Dallas: 7,564
• Tarrant: 5,185
• Bexar: 4,550
• Travis: 3,084
• El Paso: 1,147

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Backgate Website to do sit down interview with TBCJ Chairman Oliver Bell next month



By: Duane Stuart, Backgate Website
06/22/09

 Texas Board of Criminal Justice chairman Oliver Bell has granted the Backgate Website an exclusive sit down in person interview regarding the direction of TDCJ, and TDCJ employee based questions. Details surrounding the interview are being worked out at this point, but the interview is scheduled for next month. Bell, who was appointed by governor Rick Perry to serve as board chairman,

It’s a no frills three-tank filtering system that turns waste oils into a sooty solvent which, when blended with regular diesel fuel, can be burned in unmodified diesel engines. The filtered fuel is called “black diesel,” an economically attractive and environmentally friendly product which backers contend has the potential to become black gold if used on a grand scale during times of high pump prices. TDCJ successfully tested the filtering system at the Eastham Unit near Lovelady last year and plans on installing it at five additional prison facilities this year.

Cost avoidance realized

TDCJ Connections story

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Are the new TDCJ unit entry requirements really slowing the introduction of contraband ?



You be the judge..........

By: Max Rodriguez, Backgate Website
06/17/09


  Almost a year ago, TDCJ enacted what it claimed was a well thought out, cure all idea that would dramatically slow the introduction of contraband onto TDCJ facilities. After that year, has it really changed anything ? TDCJ results for contraband numbers statewide have been reduced slightly, but have not shown the decline that many thought they would see stated one TDCJ administrator.

  Fact is, the dirty are still bringing in the contraband, and the honest are the ones paying the price. TDCJ just recently made changes to it's policy regarding cell phones. If staff are caught accidently bringing their cell phones through the front gate, it's an automatic suspension from duty. A change that has affected many already. Although TDCJ couldn't officially produce any numbers as of yet that detail the actual number of disciplinaries written on employees for proven accidental introduction of phones, or other prohibited items,the numbers we got independently were high.

  Some of those items included any monies over $25, ciggarette lighters, cell phones, or items in excess of required limits.

 We will be tracking these numbers in the coming months and will report on them when they are complete. The Backgate has been bombarded with emails from angry employees who have wondered why such things as bottled water are controlled and restricted in quantity, but the ability for an employee to carry in contraband items internally has not been addressed yet. " It seems like the only people that are affected by the new rules are the ones trying to do right." wrote one TDCJ employee.

  Some have also questioned the location of TDCJ facilities and how that affects contraband flow onto the main units. Many trusty camp offenders are housed within a short walk from major Texas highways all over the state. That has provided the ability for those offenders to obtain tobacco, liquor, cell phones and other dangerous contraband items. How long before a gun will be introduced ? How much of these items are being paraded into the units through our back gates ?

  We have to agree with those employees who have emailed. The new policy, although well intended im sure, has ensnarled more innocent victims then malice minded crooks. The policies are so badly monitored and selectively enforced, it brings up the question once again. How can employees police employees effectively ? Although it is a simi-effective smokescreen for the general public who witnessed senator Whitmire on T.V. redfaced after getting a phone call from a deathrow inmate from lockup, it is no more than that. A front.

  Having to darn near get naked coming into the prison has not slowed the contraband down much, and after the numbers are in all over the state, you may feel the same way. More to come.


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Coming up at the Backgate ..



- TDCJ reports no cases of swine flu within the walls of any Texas prison.
- Texas legislators speak to the Backgate about failure of the proposed payraises and status of the agency.
- Employee law suit progresses after Darrington EEO issues were ignored.
- and much , much more....

Have news or acivities to report ? Pass it on. Email the Backgate at ; admin@thebackgate.org 

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multiple retirements at prison headquarters signals changing of the guard.



By: Duane Stuart, Backgate Website
06/17/2009


  The upcoming summer will bring a changing of the guard within the ranks at TDCJ's administrative Huntsville  complex. At least three TDCJ administrators are calling it quits and joining the ranks of recent TDCJ retirees. Longtime TDCJ employees David Stacks, Pamela Williams, and Nathaniel Quarterman have all announced their upcoming retirement dates. All of the retirements are set to be effective by the end of summer.

  The changes were welcomed by some, but had others wondering what will be next. One email message sent to the Backgate read , " I think it's time that Mr. Quarterman moved on, it's been business as usual for way to long up there." Others praised the group and explained that it would take a lot to replace them all for the jobs they have done.

  Either way, good luck to the retirees. And remember, TDCJ is still 3,000 officers short, we'll leave the light on for you.


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2009 hurricane season could mean more TDCJ evacuations

“Many of the most severely impacted communities may face years of recovery before they can even begin to see their communities made whole again,” the Federal Emergency Management Agency said in its official impact report three months after the storm.

Ike caused $11 billion of damage on Texas’ coast, FEMA estimated, and more than $8 billion more in neighboring Gulf states, making it the third most destructive hurricane in U.S. history. It was so ruinous that the World Meteorological Organization, which decides such things, retired its name.

Hurricane names rotate every six years, but there will never be another Hurricane Ike. One was more than enough.

It has been 8½ months since Ike hit, but FEMA is still shuttling coastal families back and forth between temporary homes, and officials are still trying to identify all of the 37 people believed to have died in the state — four of the last five bodies were identified last week through DNA testing, The Houston Chronicle reported.

Along the Texas Gulf Coast, people remain jittery. In a survey released last month by CPL. Retail Energy, one of the state’s largest power providers, 62 percent of residents said they did not believe they were prepared for another major hurricane.

Galveston at the center of the storm
Galveston, where Ike made landfall, was hardest hit, suffering nearly $3 billion of the state’s toll. And it is there that the recovery has been most painful.

The last of the state and federal recovery centers on Galveston and Pelican Islands, which make up the city, didn’t close until April. Reconstruction of the city’s seawall still hasn’t been completed, and only one of its fishing piers is usable.

Eighteen teachers were laid off from Ball High School as part of the Galveston Independent School District’s restructuring after  enrollment fell by 22 percent in Ike's wake. Now the high school struggles with a severe teacher shortage, because on some days, nearly a fifth of its 150 teachers are absent as they rebuild and move, Superintendent Lynne Cleveland said.

Finding substitute teachers “is a struggle,” said Lisa Schweitzer, a teacher who took 10 days off this school year to move out of and then back into her home.

Classrooms have doubled and tripled up, and sometimes more than 600 students are crammed into the auditorium, said Dean Blair, the school’s principal. On a few occasions, the school has resorted to showing classes informational films or episodes of “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”

The city's economy, which is based on an $800 million tourism industry and the University of Texas Medical Branch, its largest employer, also is reeling. Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said 47 percent of the city’s tax base was in the hardest-hit west end of the island, and she predicted that it would take five years to build it back up.

Damage to the medical center also curtailed health care in the region. The main hospital still has fewer than half the beds it did before the storm, and its emergency room remains closed.

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Could this happen at a TDCJ facility ? 

By Calvin Palmer

Five guards at a high-security prison in Arkansas were placed on leave following the escape of two convicted killers.

Jeffrey Grinder, 32, and Calvin Adams, 39, walked out of Cummins Unit, in Grady, on Friday, wearing prison guard uniforms that are made at the prison.

The five correction officers have been placed on leave while the escape is investigated, Correction Department spokeswoman Dina Tyler said.

She would not name the five officers but said they had been guarding the entry and exit points of the prison.

Grinder and Adams, both serving life without parole for capital murder, have been seen in Missouri and later in Michigan, where one of them has relatives.

Gov Mike Beebe called the escape “inexcusable” and said he was waiting on the department’s investigation into how it occurred.

“We don’t know whether it was a breakdown at the gate where they left, we don’t know if it’s a breakdown with whoever was watching the cameras, we don’t know whether it was a breakdown within the library. We don’t know how much of it was inside in terms of cooperation,” Beebe said.

Video surveillance shows the men put on the uniforms in the prison library after a 6:00 p.m. headcount and walked out of the prison unchallenged during a shift change soon afterward, Tyler said. They were discovered missing at the 10:00 p.m. head count.

Grinder and Adams drove away in a car that was left for them. Authorities are trying to find out who left the car.

Could this happen at one of TDCJ's garment factory units ? Deabte it at the Backgate message board!

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Prison Boss Cook-off headed back to Gatesville for 2009 




October 2-3rd 2009 is the date. Are you ready to show off your BBQ cooking talents ? Come to Fauntleroy park in Gatesville Texas and you will have your chance. The annual cook-off showcases the talents of TDCJ employee cook-off teams as they compete for the all mighty skillet award, some prize money, and most of all, bragging rights statewide.  If you are interested in joining the cook-off, which also features best magarita, best salsa and best deserts, just follow the below link to Capt. Frank's Prison boss cook-off website. 

Click here for the official website!  

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Prison blues: States slimming down inmate meals



June 5, 2009

ATLANTA (AP) - The recession is hitting home for inmates, too: Some cash-strapped states are taking aim at prison menus.

Georgia prisoners already didn't get lunch on the weekends, and the Department of Corrections recently eliminated the midday meal on Fridays, too. Ohio may drop weekend breakfasts and offer brunch instead. Other states are cutting back on milk and fresh fruit.

Officials say prisoners are still getting enough calories, but family members and critics say the changes could make prisoners irritable and food a valuable commodity, increasing the possibility of violence.

In Georgia, inmates are still getting the same number of daily calories: 2,800 for men and 2,300 for women. The portions at breakfast and dinner are bigger on days only two meals are served.

Almost 5 percent of the state's 58,295 prisoners still get three meals every day because they are diabetic, pregnant or have other special health needs.

Barbara Helie, whose 25-year-old son Nicholas is serving time for armed robbery in Valdosta State Prison, said he would go hungry without the roughly $60 a week she puts into his account to buy instant soups, cheese, beef sticks and other snacks at the prison commissary.

"I don't know how the guys who don't have someone on the outside helping out handle it," Helie said. "Food has been an ongoing issue for him ... He's hungry a lot."

Georgia's fast-growing prison system - the fifth-largest in the nation - has been hit hard by the same budget woes plaguing other states. For the current fiscal year, the state has slashed almost 10 percent from the state Department of Corrections' $1.1 billion budget.

Friday lunches were a casualty of the department's decision to save money on gas and other costs by scaling back the prisoner work week from five eight-hour days to four 10-hour days, said Calvin Brown, Georgia Department of Corrections Deputy Director of Facility Operations. He couldn't say how much the state is saving.

For years now, Georgia prisoners have received only two meals a day on weekends because they don't work, so now the same holds true on Fridays. They get three meals on work days because they are exerting themselves on road crews and litter pick up.

There are no federal minimum caloric standards for state prison systems, though they are encouraged to adhere to guidelines established by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies Food and Nutrition Board. Georgia officials say they follow those guidelines, and Brown said there have been some complaints from inmates and family members but no lawsuits.

In Ohio, prisons director Terry Collins said eliminating breakfast on the weekends and replacing it with brunch "could save us some real dollars when it comes to staffing and food costs."

He said the move would not upset prisoners because it would not sacrifice quality.

"I don't expect them to be as good as mom's home cooking, but the food should be cooked and presented properly," Collins said.

Other states have kept three meals but are scaling back menus. Earlier this month, Alabama reduced the milk and fresh fruit it serves to save $700,000. Alabama inmates now receive an apple or an orange once a week, down from twice a week. Milk has been reduced from seven servings per week to three. Tennessee has also cut back on milk portions for men - from two servings a day to one - to save $600,000.

Gordon Crews, a professor at Marshall University in West Virginia, wrote a book looking at correctional violence and said historically there have been links between food and problems behind bars. He pointed to a February riot at the Reeves County Detention Center in Texas caused in part by poor food quality.

"A lot of prisoners will see something like that as some kind of retribution against them or some kind of mistreatment," Crews said. "It'll be something that the correctional staff will pay the price for ... another reason (for inmates) to argue and fight back."

In Georgia, reports of inmate assaults - on both staff and other inmates - are up substantially for fiscal year 2009 over the year before, according to data obtained by The Associated Press through an open records request.

Prison officials deny the increase has anything to do with the shrinking menu but didn't provide an explanation.

Sara Totonchi, of the Southern Center for Human Rights, called the elimination of Friday lunch part of a troubling trend of budget cuts in Georgia's correctional system.

"We don't think this is a good idea," she said. "It destabilizes things inside the prison and that is not good for any of the inmates or staff."

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Hepatitis in a TDCJ correctional setting

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TDCJ takes silver in Texas Round-up

    am pleased to announce that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has brought home the Silver Medal for large state agencies (5000+ employees) for the 2009 Texas Round-Up. With the agency reporting over 10,000 employees completing the full six-week program, TDCJ received this honor for the third year in a row. The six-week physical activity program was held from February 2, 2009 through March 15, 2009.

I would like to recognize the CID Region V and VI offices, and the Mount Pleasant, Orange and Nederland parole offices, who all had a 100% completion rate for participants. In addition, the Daniel Unit with a 99% completion rate, the Sayle Unit with a 96% completion rate, and the CID administrative offices and the State Counsel for Offenders, who both achieved a 91% completion rate on participation. Well done to all!

I would like to thank each and every one of you for your dedication, participation and hard work in making this year’s challenge a success for the agency. As for those who participated in the 10K/5K Family Mile in Austin on April 25th, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed my run with you. A group photo from that event is posted below.

Again, thank you to all TDCJ participants of the 2009 Texas Round-Up and I look forward to working with you and the rest of the agency as we strive to achieve the “Governor’s Cup” in 2010.

Oliver J. Bell
Chairman, Texas Board of Criminal Justice

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Texas prison system remembers Bonnie and Clyde 77 years after Eastham prison escape



The two outlaws, and lovers died in a hail of gunfire 75 years ago this month.

Story assembled from several sources,libraries, and news agencies.
For the Backgate website
06/01/09

Clyde Champion Barrow and his companion, Bonnie Parker, were shot to death by officers in an ambush near Sailes, Bienville Parish, Louisiana, on May 23, 1934, after one of the most colorful and spectacular manhunts the Nation had seen up to that time.

Barrow was suspected of numerous killings and was wanted for murder, robbery, and state charges of kidnaping.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), then called the Bureau of Investigation, became interested in Barrow and his paramour late in December, 1932, through a singular bit of evidence. A Ford automobile, which had been stolen in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, was found abandoned near Jackson, Michigan in September of that year. At Pawhuska, it was learned another Ford car had been abandoned there which had been stolen in Illinois.

A search of this car revealed it had been occupied by a man and a woman, indicated by abandoned articles therein. In this car was found a prescription bottle, which led Special Agents to a drug store in Nacogdoches, Texas, where investigation disclosed the woman for whom the prescription had been filled was Clyde Barrow's aunt.

Further investigation revealed that the woman who obtained the prescription had been visited recently by Clyde Barrow, Bonnie Parker, and Clyde's brother, L. C. Barrow. It also was learned that these three were driving a Ford car, identified as the one stolen in Illinois. It was further shown that L. C. Barrow had secured the empty prescription bottle from a son of the woman who had originally obtained it.

On May 20, 1933, the United States Commissioner at Dallas, Texas, issued a warrant against Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, charging them with the interstate transportation, from Dallas to Oklahoma, of the automobile stolen in Illinois. The FBI then started its hunt for this elusive pair.

Bonnie and Clyde met in Texas in January, 1930. At the time, Bonnie was 19 and married to an imprisoned murderer; Clyde was 21 and unmarried. Soon after, he was arrested for a burglary and sent to jail. He escaped from the Eastham prison unit in Texas using a gun Bonnie had smuggled to him, was recaptured, and was sent back to prison. Clyde was paroled in February, 1932, rejoined Bonnie, and resumed a life of crime.

In addition to the automobile theft charge, Bonnie and Clyde were suspects in other crimes. At the time they were killed in 1934, they were believed to have committed 13 murders and several robberies and burglaries. Barrow, for example, was suspected of murdering two police officers at Joplin, Missouri, and kidnaping a man and a woman in rural Louisiana. He released them near Waldo, Texas. Numerous sightings followed, linking this pair with bank robberies and automobile thefts. Clyde allegedly murdered a man at Hillsboro, Texas; committed robberies at Lufkin and Dallas, Texas; murdered one sheriff and wounded another at Stringtown, Oklahoma; kidnaped a deputy at Carlsbad, New Mexico; stole an automobile at Victoria, Texas; attempted to murder a deputy at Wharton, Texas; committed murder and robbery at Abilene and Sherman, Texas; committed murder at Dallas, Texas; abducted a sheriff and the chief of police at Wellington, Texas; and committed murder at Joplin and Columbia, Missouri.

Later in 1932, Bonnie and Clyde began traveling with Raymond Hamilton, a young gunman. Hamilton left them several months later, and was replaced by William Daniel Jones in November, 1932.

Ivan M. "Buck" Barrow, brother of Clyde, was released from the Texas State Prison on March 23, 1933, having been granted a full pardon by the Governor. He quickly joined Clyde, bringing his wife, Blanche, so the group now numbered five persons. This gang embarked upon a series of bold robberies which made headlines across the country. They escaped capture in various encounters with the law. However, their activities made law enforcement efforts to apprehend them even more intense. During a shootout with police in Iowa on July 29, 1933, Buck Barrow was fatally wounded and Blanche was captured. Jones, who was frequently mistaken for "Pretty Boy" Floyd, was captured in November, 1933, at Houston, Texas, by the sheriff's office. Bonnie and Clyde went on together.

On November 22, 1933, a trap was set by the Dallas, Texas, sheriff and his deputies in an attempt to capture Bonnie and Clyde near Grand Prairie, Texas, but the couple escaped the officer's gunfire. They held up an attorney on the highway and took his car, which they abandoned at Miami, Oklahoma. On December 21, 1933, Bonnie and Clyde held up and robbed a citizen at Shreveport, Louisiana.

On January 16, 1934, five prisoners, including the notorious Raymond Hamilton (who was serving sentences totaling more than 200 years), were liberated from the Eastham State Prison Farm at Waldo, Texas, by Clyde Barrow, accompanied by Bonnie Parker. Two guards were shot by the escaping prisoners with automatic pistols, which had been previously concealed in a ditch by Barrow. As the prisoners ran, Barrow covered their retreat with bursts of machine-gun fire. Among the escapees was Henry Methvin of Louisiana.

On April 1, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde encountered two young highway patrolmen near Grapevine, Texas. Before the officers could draw their guns, they were shot. On April 6, 1934, a constable at Miami, Oklahoma, fell mortally wounded by Bonnie and Clyde, who also abducted a police chief, whom they wounded.

The FBI had jurisdiction solely on the charge of transporting a stolen automobile, although the activities of the Bureau Agents were vigorous and ceaseless. Every clue was followed. "Wanted notices" furnishing fingerprints, photograph, description, criminal record, and other data were distributed to all officers. The Agents followed the trail through many states and into various haunts of the Barrow gang, particularly Louisiana. The association with Henry Methvin and the Methvin family of Louisiana was discovered by FBI Agents and they found that Bonnie and Clyde had been driving a car stolen in New Orleans.

On April 13, 1934, an FBI Agent, through investigation in the vicinity of Ruston, Louisiana, obtained information which definitely placed Bonnie and Clyde in a remote section southwest of that community. The home of the Methvins was not far away and the Agent learned of visits there by Bonnie and Clyde. Special Agents in Texas had learned that Clyde and his companion had been traveling from Texas to Louisiana, sometimes accompanied by Henry Methvin.

The FBI and local law enforcement authorities in Louisiana and Texas concentrated on apprehending Bonnie and Clyde, whom they strongly believed to be in the area. It was learned that Bonnie and Clyde, with some of the Methvins, had staged a party at Black Lake, Louisiana, on the night of May 21, 1934, and were due to return to the area two days later.

Before dawn on May 23, 1934, a posse composed of police officers from Louisiana and Texas, including Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, concealed themselves in bushes along the highway near Sailes, Louisiana. In the early daylight, Bonnie and Clyde appeared in an automobile and when they attempted to drive away, the officers opened fire. Bonnie and Clyde were killed instantly.

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 Backgate focus on prison history;  "Walking" George Beto

Taken from the Texas state Archives, and other sources

For the Backgate Website 

06/01/09

      George John Beto, criminal-justice expert, teacher, and Lutheran minister, was born in Hysham, Montana, on January 19, 1916, the son of Margaret (Witsma) and Louis Beto, a circuit riding Lutheran minister. When he was a year old he moved with his parents to New Rockford, North Dakota. Two years later the family moved to Lena, Illinois, where Beto lived until 1930, when he enrolled in Concordia College, a Lutheran boys' boarding school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After completing a six-year college-preparatory curriculum in five years, Beto studied for the ministry at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1935 to 1937.

He transferred to Valparaiso University in Indiana during 1937 and received his bachelor of arts degree there in 1938. Beto returned to the seminary in 1938 and completed his theological studies in 1939; the school awarded him a doctor of divinity degree in 1989. From 1939 until 1949 he taught history at Concordia Lutheran College in Austin, Texas. From January 1949 to June 1959 he served as the college's president. Beto was ordained a minister of the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) at St. Paul's Church in Austin in 1944 and served for a time as the congregation's assistant pastor. Also in 1944 he earned a master of arts degree in medieval history from the University of Texas. In 1955 he completed a Ph.D. in educational administration at UT.

Beto began a lengthy involvement with criminal justice when in 1953 Governor Allan Shivers^qv appointed him to the Texas Prison Board (renamed Texas Board of Corrections in 1957). Until July 1959 Beto served on the administrative agency of the Texas prison system, performing the duties of board secretary for three of those years.

He played a crucial role in the establishment of perhaps the first General Education Development testing program for prisoners in the nation in 1956 and the following year received a medal from the Texas Heritage Foundation in recognition of his contributions to that project. Beto resigned from the Board of Corrections and Concordia College to become president of Concordia Theological Seminary at Springfield, Illinois, on July 1, 1959. He remained in that position until 1962. During these years he visited and surveyed prisons in Germany, France, England, Denmark, and Holland. He also served as chairman of the Committee to Evaluate the Illinois Youth Commission and was a member of the Illinois Parole and Pardon Board.

After the death of Oscar Byron Ellis^qv in November 1961, Beto became director and chief of chaplains for the Texas Department of Corrections, on March 1, 1962; he held those positions through August 31, 1972. Prisoners often called him "Walking George" because he unexpectedly visited inmates and employees at the various prison properties. Beto, who observed that "the poor, the stupid, and the inept" composed the majority of the prison population, also believed in the possibility of rehabilitation. Although many inmates admired him for his willingness to communicate with them, they also regarded him as a stern disciplinarian, a "preacher" with "a baseball bat in one hand and a Bible in the other."

Like Ellis, Beto mastered the use of favorable publicity and media support for his administration. Cooperating with board chairman H. H. Coffield to promote a positive image, he secured legislative approval and appropriations for the prison system and successfully shielded his department from the scrutiny of potential critics. He persuaded the legislature and Governor John Connally to enact a state's-use law in 1963, which required state government agencies to purchase manufactured goods from the state's prisons.

That law resulted in a tremendous expansion of industrial activity and employment and training for prisoners; the sale of prison-manufactured goods increased from less than $600,000 in 1964 to more than $6 million annually by 1972. As the prisoner population increased from 12,000 to 16,000 during these years, Beto supervised the opening of two new prison units at Huntsville and won legislative approval and funding for a large facility in Anderson County. Although fewer prisoners worked in agriculture than in earlier years, the farm program, under Byron W. Frierson, assistant director for agriculture, continued to produce income from cash sales as well as allow prisoners to raise most of the food consumed by the institution.

The name "walking George" became popular with Texas prison employees in referring to Beto as he would make it a point to visit all of the prison units within the state  that he oversaw, and he would  personally walk every sidewalk or corridor within those confines. He would greet employees, and make small talk when he could. He was later better identified on the prison units by the sight of his fitted business suits and his signature fedora hat.

Through Beto's urging, the Board of Corrections in 1963 converted the Harlem Farm (JESTER STATE PRISON FARM) into a prerelease facility to provide an eight-week program of counseling and education for state prisoners prior to their release. In 1969 the department began a special work-release program that allowed selected prisoners, with less than a year remaining before discharge, to work as paid employees for private employers and return to prison after completing their shifts. Also during 1969, at Beto's instigation, the Texas legislature authorized a nongeographical public school district for inmates housed at all prison units.

Financed by the state Foundation School Program Fund, the Windham school district was possibly the first educational system of its kind established at any state prison in the nation. Beto also expanded college-education programs at prison facilities and cooperated with Sam Houston State University to develop a criminology program for research and the training of prison employees and others interested in pursuing criminal justice careers. In 1965, probably for the first time in the history of the Texas prison system, Beto hired African-American employees.

During his years as director he received national and international recognition for his abilities; his peers in the American Correctional Association elected him president for 1969-70. From 1966 to 1969 he served on the National Advisory Council on Correctional Manpower and Training; in 1970 he was a delegate to the Fourth United Nations Conference on Prevention of Crime and Treatment of the Offender in Kyoto, Japan.

Despite the prestige enjoyed by Beto among penologists and political leaders, he also attracted a number of critics. Considered by some reformers as "enlightened" but "reactionary," he received much criticism for his use of authoritarian disciplinary policies and methods of control that allowed certain prisoners to supervise and discipline other inmates. Many prisoners complained that Beto and his staff harassed and threatened those who attempted to file civil-rights suits against prison officials.

A federal court ruled in favor of prisoners and their attorney, Frances Jalet Cruz, who charged that Beto had denied them access to legal services. The court found Beto liable for "unlawful intimidation," and "unlawful punishments" and awarded monetary damages valued at $10,000 to twelve prisoners and Jalet. On June 29, 1972, near the end of Beto's tenure as director, prisoner David Ruiz filed a handwritten petition against conditions of confinement in Texas prisons that began the most enduring prisoners'-rights suit in the nation's history.

Beto's reputation among most criminal justice experts remained intact, however, for the remainder of his life. After he retired as director of the Texas Department of Corrections, he served as a professor of criminology and corrections at Sam Houston State University from 1972 until 1991. Beto was a member of the Texas Constitutional Revision Commission, 1973-74, and a member of the Texas Youth Commission board, 1975-78. Federal District Judge Frank Johnson in 1976 selected him to monitor conditions in Alabama prisons during class-action litigation by prisoners in that state.

Beto served with the American Bar Association Commission on Correctional Facilities and Services, 1971-78, and the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standard and Goals, 1972-73. He represented the United States at United Nations Conferences on Prevention of Crime and Treatment of the Offender at Geneva, Switzerland, in 1975 and Milan, Italy, in 1985 and evaluated correctional facilities in Poland, Egypt, and Qatar in 1976. As a consultant, he also surveyed United States military correctional sites in West Germany in 1974 and at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1984.

Beto received a Distinguished Alumnus award from the University of Texas in 1971; the state of Texas opened two prison units in Anderson County in 1980 and 1981 and named them for him. He and his wife, the former Marilyn Knippa, whom he married on March 5, 1943, were the parents of four children. Following his retirement from Sam Houston State University in 1991, Beto moved to Austin, where he served as chief of chaplains for the Texas Youth Commission from September until he died of an apparent heart attack on December 4 of that year. He was buried in the State Cemetery  in Austin.

Read about George Beto!

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TDCJ Report to Backgate: still no current cases of swine flu within the Texas prison system.


 
By: Duane Stuart, Backgate Website
05/27/09

   A report supplied to the Backgate website by TDCJ states that as of today, there are still no confirmed cases of the H1N1 (swine flu) illness reported on a TDCJ facility. That news comes as a relief after several more deaths nationwide have been contributed to the illness. TDCJ is still playing the virus day by day stated one TDCJ administrator.

   Weekend visits have been restored to offenders statewide after a moritorium was issued just weeks ago that halted such visits. TDCJ has instructed employees to screen visitors as they enter the prisons by observing them and asking a series of questions to identift those that show symtoms of the flu. Those identified as having symptoms are then refused entry to protect staff and offenders from the spread of the virus.
 
  Just weeks ago, TDCJ established a game plan on how to deal with the virus. Masks and gloves were ordered and supplied to unit employees that were assigned to areas were the virus may thrive. It was a good faith effort  after Texas county jails and other law enforcement agencies began to supply those basic items to protect their staff and offenders. For you employees on the front lines, wash your hands frequently. Avoid rubbing your nose or eyes before washing your hands. It may spread the virus. Bring a small bottle of hand sanitizer to work to sanitize your hands frequently. It's allowed by policy. Use it. Protect yourself and your family. We will keep you advised on any potential developements.

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TDCJ facing potential million dollar federal civil lawsuit over ex-Darrington warden, past Region III directors actions.



Texas Taxpayers to once again fit the bill.

By: Max Rodriguez, Backgate Website
05/27/09

  Former region III director Jackie Edwards and ex-Darrington unit warden Thomas Merchant are the focus of a federal civil lawsuit brought by past employees of the Darrington unit that charge the two with harassment, retaliation and other EEO type violations. The Backgate website has confirmed that attorneys' for the plaintiffs recently got the go ahead to file the suit in federal court and that depositions are forthcoming within the next month. Merchant was the focus of an internal investigation while assigned to Darrington and Edwards was the regional director that was on watch as the charges by staff fell through the cracks after being reported. Edwards has since been promoted to director over the agencies risk management and operational review offices in Huntsville. A move that no one can fathom after the repeated charges of retaliation, and inattention to EEO issues that he faced while in office in that regional office.

  Edwards was on watch as the issues at Darrington and Terrell were about to explode two years ago, and was implicated by staff members as playing a major part in those issues being allowed to fester. Those issues were at the forefront of a series of stories aired by KPRC channel 2 news  just a year ago involving the Terrell unit corruption. The Backgate assisted in the reporting of the story by KPRC. That story led to the lock down and shakedown of the entire Terrell facility. As a reward, Edwards was promoted out of the limelight and never faced any type disciplinary as a result of those accusations. OIG just recently wrapped up that investigation on that issue and no charges or administrative action was taken against Mr. Edwards. Which failed to surprise many. " This will cost the Texas taxpayers millions of dollars in the long run." stated an assistant to a high profile Texas legislator who wished to be quoted as anonymous. " We are actively dealing with these issues everyday, and we want our constituents to know that we actively seeking answers from those TDCJ administrators responsible."

  As the trial approaches for these employees involved, we will report back with details as needed.


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Texas Board of Criminal Justice member does surprise inspections on region III units for Memorial day.



By; Tony Sanders, Backgate Website
05/25/09

    A member of the TBCJ showed up on the doorsteps of some region III units today, surprising some unit staff members and administrators. Board member Leo Vasquez III drove south to do the unannounced  unit inspections. He and an assistant asked questions, and toured the units as part of the board's new initiative to be more "hands on".

  
    Mr. Vasquez chairs the Management Information Systems Committee and is a member of the Audit and Review, Community Corrections, Correctional Institutions and Business and Financial Operations Committees. Mr. Vasquez received his BA in Economics from Yale University and his MBA in Finance from Columbia University.

    He has an extensive background involving corporate finance, implementing solutions relating to capital issues, mergers and acquisitions, strategic business planning, valuations, financial modeling, business/proposal development, operations analysis and organizational structures, human resources and international issues. Mr. Vasquez currently resides in Houston, where he serves as the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar.

  Maybe they witnessed  how short the units are. And how dangerous the job of a correctional officer really is. Guess we will all know in the coming days.  Good to see them out on the prowl however. Good work!




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Texas Governor desperate for approval after failure to secure key legislative bills.



By: Duane Stuart, Backgate Website
05/25/09


  The Texas governor is on the offensive after the numbers have shown his approval rating is near bottoming out. Experts say that his failure to respond to the voting on key issues has taken it's toll on his administration. Perry, who faces competition for the governors seat in 2012 has lost ground with the citizens of Texas. Perry, who has been losing ground for years with state employees, was quoted as saying that TDCJ employees were overpaid babysitters.

 It's time for Perry to be gone.

See the AP story on the current status of your wonderful governor here!

 

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TDCJ employees get less than half of proposed 20% pay raise. Has many packing up and leaving.

Texas legislature fails TDCJ's 25,000 employees again. Raise a slap in the face to employees statewide.



By: Max Rodriguez, Backgate Website
05/20/09

    In a move by Texas legislators that has already had resounding effects just hours after it's announcement, TDCJ employees will only see 7% in pay raises over the next two years. That's a mere 3.5% this year and next. With the current state of the economy, the failure of the pay raise proposition has some seeking higher ground already. The Backgate Website's general manager Duane Stuart stated, " This is sure to create an unimaginable ripple effect all over the state with TDCJ employees."       " Terrible morale is sure to get even worse, and i see the ones that can get out to choose now to do it."   The 2,500 empty correctional officer positions TDCJ has held for nearly 5 years will surely grow as well many have said.

  The AFSCME correctional officer's union has released a list of Texas Legislators that failed to push the originally proposed raises through. The union also blames employees themselves for their lack of attention and commitment to calling legislators and getting out to vote in the last election. Below is a list of legislators that held the key to a TDCJ employee payraise. Call them, write them, and get out to vote next time to get rid of them. What will you do? Go to the Backgate message board and give your take on the issue.

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