Texas senators discuss closing youth lockups amid sexual abuse scandal

by Jolie McCullough, Texas Tribune

Several Texas state senators on Tuesday expressed support for the closure of at least some of the state’s remaining youth lockups.

The lawmakers' comments, made at a Senate Finance Committee hearing, came as the Texas Juvenile Justice Department is entangled in a sexual abuse scandal that has led to a 10-year prison sentence for one guard and the arrest of three women at the Gainesville State School.

The senators sharply criticized the department’s director, who said in the hearing that his department is so understaffed that security cameras aren’t constantly monitored and youth are sometimes left alone with guards.

State Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat who has long been critical of the department, said the only reason the department hasn’t completely blown up yet is because the staff let the committed, often violent youth run the five remote lockups still in use throughout the state.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2017/12/05/texas-senators-discuss-closing-state-lockups-youth-after-sex-scandal/