New jail in town

MIDLAND On a day when crosswinds make it a challenge just to drive straight down the Interstate to Midland, the thought of Midland County building a "tent jail" seems less than anchored.

And having it described as something inmates would strive for is just otherworldly.

"Inmates gain this," Midland County Judge Mike Bradford said. In fact, Bradford said, the new tent jail is an earned privilege for low-risk inmates.

Indeed, from outside, the white dome resembled a sci-fi habitation on Mars more than a place for housing criminals. The facility is located near the rest of the sheriff’s office facilities on Industrial Avenue, south of downtown.

Inside, the smell of fresh plastic coated the 72 bunks, all together on one side of the 7,200-square-foot room, with handicap-accessible ceramic toilets and showers on the other. In the middle lay tables for backgammon and checkers, with flat-screen televisions high on the walls, and even room for washing clothes.

It bore a resemblance to a very nice military barracks, which turned out to be no coincidence.

After Desert Storm, Carl Griffith, former sheriff of Jefferson County from 1989-’96, wanted to build a tent construction there to fix his own jail problems.

"If our military could fight to defend our rights in tents, why not house inmates?" Griffith said.

After a bit of convincing, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards approved the project, which had two advantages that also apply to the Midland tent jail. The materials made it significantly cheaper to build, and it could be designed to allow direct supervision.

In direct supervision, Griffith explained, all inmates are in one place and can be watched all of the time rather than being hidden from guards in their own cells as they are in traditional linear facilities.

"About 90 percent of inmates can be managed by direct supervision," Griffith said.

Griffith’s 1,600-inmate facility was dismantled in 1997 by his successor, which is why Midland’s permanent tent construction is the only one in the state.

Midland Sheriff Gary Painter said his own new facility was needed for space.

"We were letting anywhere from 20 to 35 inmates out per day," Painter said, each one costing Midland County an average of $45 per day for other counties to house.

Painter knew Griffith from the TCJS when Griffith was a sheriff. When Midland County began to look for innovative ways to get the job done, this was one of the options. Even though it took some convincing all around, Bradford and Painter were complimentary of how it came together, with the jail commission, county commissioners and architects all working together.

"This is what happens when the criminal justice system cooperates," Painter said.

Griffith said the new, cheaper materials brought costs down from $39 million to less than $17 million for the whole project, three more "pods" to house 216 inmates.

The second phase is planned for medium-risk offenders, and Painter said a long-range plan of rehabilitation is in the works, getting inmates a GED and marketable skills to lower the recidivism rate.

"It’s a change," Painter said. "We’re giving them more freedom."