Reports and Studies 

• The Effects of Prison/Jail Visitation on Recidivism Read about a report that examines exactly how visitation of family and clergy affects outcomes for inmates
• “The Rehabilitation Dilemma in Texas County Jails.” This important article by Mark Kellar from the University of Houston speaks to what we find in most jails, which is “no treatment, no programs and no classes.” 
• A remarkable analysis and speeech on how the US has criminalized poverty by the veteran advocate for jail/prison reform, Bonnie Kerness.
• New Report on Women Offenders
• CNN Report: Too Many Juveniles Are Being Locked Up
• “Criminalizing” Poverty -  Important report on how America is CRIMINALIZING POVERTY (10/13/2009).
• ACLU’s Prison & Jail Accountability Project 2006-2007 Guide [pdf]
• Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons
• Federal Report on Dallas County Jail- Report from the office of the Assistant Attorney General of the United States, Wan J. Kim, on the conditions in the Dallas County Jail. This is a must read!
• National Council on Crime and Delinquency: Attitudes of US Voters toward Nonserious Offenders and Alternatives to Incarceration [pdf] (June 2009)
• Texas Commission on Jail Standards 2004 Report [pdf] – As far as we know, there is no more recent report on all these topics. The Jail Commission does do monthly reports on populations of our jails, and you can view those by clicking here.

What is the difference between a state jail and a county jail in Texas?

A state jail facility is run by, or under contract to, the Texas Dept of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). A state jail facility is really not a jail. It is actually a minimum security prison facility, although it is not officially called that.

A county jail is completely different in that it is run by the county, under the power of the local sheriff. It is important to understand that county jails are not part of the Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice.

This is a simple report by a former correctional officer named Bill G on a blog called INYO County Sheriff Talks, December 20, 2010 at 4:24 pm:

There is no one in a state jail facility who is awaiting trial, like in a county jail. Everyone in TDCJ custody is convicted, and serving a sentence.

A state jail felony is a non-violent fourth degree felony, with a sentence of 180 days to two years.

The TDCJ unit directory page lists all correctional facilities operated by, or under contract to, the state.

http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/unitdirectory/all.htm

I worked at a private state jail facility, as well as two different state prisons, during my 4 1/2 years as a correctional officer.

Edit: Although state jail facilities are for,”non-violent fourth degree felons”, they are NOT necessarily less violent than any other prison in the state of Texas. I had plenty of use of force incidents at the state jail facility I was at, as well as the prisons I worked at…..