Texas Inmate Population Continues to Grow
For several months we've been reporting on the Texas legislature's upcoming budget shortfall as it relates to the Texas prison system. Almost $6 billion of the state's $87 billion general fund is spent on prisons, but with the state facing a possible $20 billion (that's BILLION with a B) budget shortfall it is obvious that either revenues (aka taxes) are going to have to increase or spending is going to have to be cut WAY back.
An obvious place to start cutting is the prison system, and some politicians have been talking about cutting out the State Prison system (a system which is useless, dangerous, and ridiculous) as well as an across the board budget cut.
As we have said before the only realistic way to cut the prison budget is to cut back on the number of prisoners (so work on those parole packets!) since everything revolves around that number.
Interestingly, the Austin American Statesman reports that in May, 2010, 153,977 prisoners were incarcerated in the State Prisons and that number has now grown to 155,022. These numbers are compiled by the Legislative Budget Board.
Shockingly, the statistics also show that the parole rate has dropped slightly resulting in the Texas prisons now being 97% full.
It is more important than ever to take the parole process seriously. Many people do not realize that the system in Texas is not like you see in the movies and the people who vote for parole never actually see the prisoners, all they see is the paperwork. For information on how to prepare an effective Texas Parole Packet read our article on that topic or look for our eBook.available for instant download and in printed form.
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