Houston-area prison to shut under budget proposal

HOUSTON (AP) — A more than century-old prison in suburban Houston would be closed this year under the proposed budget delivered to Texas lawmakers.

The estimated $31.1 million savings with the shuttering of the Central Unit in Sugar Land would be highly visible but only a tiny part of the some $459 million in cuts proposed for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

The biggest hit, almost $224 million out of the proposed $5.4 billion budget for 2012 and 2013, is for cuts in inmate health care and monitoring costs, including a 14 percent reduction in psychiatric and pharmacy care expenses.  More...    PrisonerPal.com