Read this new story about the way many jails release people in the middle of the night, into dangerous situations. This is an issue that Texas Jail Project helped bring to the attention of lawmakers and the sheriffs and the public . . . .

HOUSTON — It was 1 a.m. when Acy Williams, a slight, 53-year-old homeless man, walked out of the Harris County Jail and onto the dark, desolate streets of downtown Houston. He wore plastic flip-flops, dingy scrubs and a black fedora. He had no money and no phone, and the Houston Metro buses ran infrequently at that late hour. He decided he would just have to walk several miles across the city to the spot in South Houston where he hoped his belongings were still safely stowed.

A person released from a county jail in the dead of night must find their own way home. Some of them find a ride from a kind stranger, and others walk for miles or manage to borrow a cell phone to call for a ride from friends or family. Most are traumatized, and some are endangered. A few of them end up dead.

“How is it that a 15 year old….who the country labels worthless to the economy – how is it that this child who has no hope of getting a job or affording college – can suddenly generate 20 to 30 thousand dollars a year once trapped in the criminal justice system? The expansion of prisons,
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By KEVIN KRAUSE / The Dallas Morning News /Saturday, November 27, 2010 When the Dallas County jails failed inspection for the seventh time last year, consultants brought in to fix the problem encountered a stressed-out and overworked Sheriff’s Department with a culture that resisted change and failed to hold its employees responsible for repeated problems,
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By Alan Bernstein, Houston Chronicle Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas and Democratic election challenger Adrian Garcia clashed Thursday over inmate deaths in the county jail, with the Republican incumbent saying many accused criminals arrive there with life-threatening illnesses. A few hours before that initial showdown between Thomas and Garcia, the candidates for district attorney continued
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ATHENS — An investigation into the death of a Henderson County Jail inmate was turned over to the Texas Rangers following allegations of medical neglect and mistreatment at the hands of jail officials.
The sheriff’s office denies any wrongdoing.