Thread: TX: Williamson County to stay with center operator

Oct. 30, 2007, 6:14PM
Williamson County to stay with center operator


By ANABELLE GARAY Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press


DALLAS — Williamson County officials approved changes Tuesday to a contract with a private prison firm that operates a criticized detention center for immigrant families, after initially considering severing the agreement.

The Central Texas county is home to the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility, a former prison in Taylor where immigrant families are held while awaiting deportation or other outcomes to their immigration cases.

Under a contract with Williamson County, Corrections Corporation of America operates the 512-bed former prison to house U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees. The federal government pays about $180 a day per person to house the detainees, with the majority of the money going to CCA.

As part of the changes approved Tuesday, CCA won't hold Williamson County responsible for events at the facility. CCA also will defend the county if a claim is filed, said Steven Owen, a spokesman for the private prison operator.

CCA will pay $5,000 each month to Williamson County for a contract liaison to work with all three entities involved. The private prison firm also will establish a letter of credit worth $250,000 so the county can tap into the funds if there is a lawsuit, Owen said.

Williamson County Commissioners considered earlier this month ending the contract, saying they were worried about the county's liability. But the amendments made to the contract clear up questions over liability, said Williamson County spokeswoman Connie Watson.

The facility once held some 400 people, including children, but the population has decreased in the past few months. None of the families at the facility have criminal records or violent histories.

A federal judge approved a settlement agreement in August that calls for changes at the Hutto facility, where families live in cells with bunk beds and a toilet. Some of the changes include installing privacy curtains around toilets, adding a full-time pediatrician and eliminating a counting system that required families to be in their cells 12 hours a day. A federal magistrate also will periodically review conditions at Hutto.

ICE officials have always contended residents at the facility are treated with dignity and respect.

Hutto is one of two facilities in the country where ICE detains families. The other facility, the Berks County Shelter Care Facility in Leesport, Pa., is a former nursing home about 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5259218.html

The OBL has been running around celebrating the closure of the Hutto facility.

This is serving up crow.

Dixie

Good news!

I live in Williamson County. Although we have illegals here,
they are not everywhere, like in some parts of the state and country.

Go WillCo!