DALLAS (AP) — State prison system officials have decided to not renew contracts for operating the privately managed Dawson State Jail in Dallas and the Mineral Wells Pre-Parole Transfer Center.
Jason Clark, who’s a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, says the contracts with Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America will be allowed to expire Aug. 31. He said inmates will be moved to other state jails and transfer centers.
The Mineral Wells minimum-security prison has a capacity of 2,100 inmates but housed just 796 inmates as of Tuesday. The Dawson State Jail near downtown Dallas housed 2,201 inmates.
The Legislature removed more than $97 million allocated for the facilities, citing declining inmate populations in the state prison system.
Dallas city officials have long wanted to redevelop the Dawson site.