Defense lawyers urge Harris County to stop jailing inmates in Louisiana

[Elderberry]

Houston Chronicle
By Zach Despart, Aug. 29, 2018

Local criminal defense lawyers say they are preparing a court filing to ask the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals to order Harris County to stop jailing pretrial inmates at a private prison in Louisiana, which they say is too far away to provide adequate counsel to their clients.

The attorneys said at a time when Harris County has spent more than $6 million defending a lawsuit over its cash bail system, housing inmates nearly 300 miles away may violate their constitutional right to effective counsel, potentially exposing the county to another suit.

“It’s creating a huge problem,” said Doug Murphy, president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association. “It is interfering with defense attorneys’ ability to represent their clients and aid in their clients’ defense.”

Harris County houses more than 500 male and female prisoners at Jackson Parish Correctional Center in Jonesboro, La. As of Wednesday, 88 percent were pretrial detainees. The prison is operated by LaSalle Southwest Corrections, a Louisiana-based private prison firm.

Their predicament is the product of a county criminal justice system that remains swamped a year after Hurricane Harvey drenched the region, causing widespread flooding, including the Harris County Criminal Justice Center. The district attorney’s office is struggling to clear a backlog of felony cases as judges juggle swollen dockets in makeshift courtrooms. The delays toss hundreds of extra inmates into the lap of Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, who has no room in his jail to put them.

More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Defense-lawyers-urge-Harris-County-to-stop-13197552.php

[thackney]

To the county, LaSalle houses inmates at a bargain price — $29.33 per male inmate per day, as low as half the cost of local outsourcing options — and the company provides all inmate transport.

The sheriff’s department said it costs Harris County $87 to house an inmate for a day, though that figure also includes court costs.

Quite a difference.  I wonder if LaSalle feeds them, or just provides a fishing net at the ditch?