My sweetie is incarcerated in Texas, and I live in Florida. It's a distance, and I have no knowledge of how the TDCJ works, even though I have read their website top to bottom and really didn't get what I needed. Basically I just need to know how the system works, especially with parole eligibility in Texas. I e-mailed Virginia Gibbons on information regarding that and she said that the parole approval rate in Texas is approximately 28%. Now is that based on good-time or all around? PLEASE HELP!!!! ANY INFORMATION WHATSOEVER ON HOW TEXAS SYSTEM WORKS IS NEEDED AND GREATLY APPRECIATED.....THANK YOU.....

It would help to know just where your "sweetie" is located. It seems across the board, that each prison operates as an island unto it's self, in reguards to how it operates.

Insatiable420,
My Son is in the Bradshaw unit which is a private state prison.(run for profit). TX has both private and state run prisons. I'm still pretty new to this myself so can't really help you to much but, sadly, their are several here who have more info on TX prisons than they would like to have, I'm sure.
I can tell you this much, TX does not allow phone calls, the upside... you phone bill won't go up. Sorry, sick humor! You can have sent him writing supplies through Office Depot but you can't send them directly. That includes books as well, have them sent by publisher or bookstore. Nor can they recieve any personal items, like clothes and such. Simply put, YOU can send him anything. Hope this helps.

B-Ray... the whole of TEXAS is an island unto itself.

Oops forgot that piece of info.....He is incarcerated at the Central Unit in Sugarland, TX. From what i've read it's a minimum security facility. I really don't know too much more about it. He was convicted of aggravated robbery it was his only offense....His parole eligibility is November of 2003. I'm quite curious as to how that goes. I've read "Parole In Texas" on their website, it really cant offer me the inside information on the chances and about good-time and all of that.....thank you

OK I AM HERE, HE IS IN A MIM. SEC. PRISON THE RULES ARE JUST LIKE WHAT WAS SAID OFFICE DEPOT AND THE BOOK STORE ONLY. YOU SAID MONEY TO HUNSTVILLE. THEY CAN ONLY SPEND 140.00 A MONTH OUTSIDE THEIR BLUE SLIPS WHICH THEY CAN SPEND MORE FOR T-SHIRTS AND UNDERWEAR AND SHOES. YOU CAN SEND ALL THE MONEY YOU WANT BUT, THIS IS ALL THEY CAN SPEND. HE NEEDS TO BE IN GP AND CASE FREE TO HELP WITH HIS PAROLE YOU NEED TO GET ALL THE LETTERS YOU CAN FROM FAMILIES AND FROM YOU TO SEND TO THE PAROLE OFFICE START SENDING IN JUNE OF NEXT YEAR TO THE PAROLE OFF WHICH IS THE SAME AS MY HUSBANDS. REMIND HIM HE MUST STAY CASE FREE AND STAY OUT OF THE GANGS THEY HAVE IN THE PRISON SYSTEM OUT HERE. IF THIS IS HIS FIRST TIME IN WHEN DID HE GO IN? HE IS UNDER THE NEW LAW, MY HUSBAND IS UNDER THE OLD WHICH GIVES HIM 45 DAYS FOR EVERY 30 DAYS HE HAS. THE NEW LAW IS EVERY 30 THEY GET 15 TO 30. TO GET THE GOOD TIME HE CANNOT BE IN SEG. OR PC CUSTODY. AND TELL HIM TO START LOOKING INTO THE PROGRAMS THEY HAVE FOR THEM ALSO LOOK INTO THE SCHOOL PROGRAMS. ALSO IF YOU COME TO SEE HIM YOU MUST BE HUSBAND AND WIFE OUR FAMILY TO HAVE CONTACT VISITS AND YOU CAN GET 4 HOURS BUT YOU HAVE TO HAVE HIM WRITE A I-60 TO THE WARDEN FOR PERMISSION THEN WAIT FOR THE RESPONSE. YOU HAVE TO GIVE DATE AND WHAT DAY SAT. OR SUN. AND YOU MUST BE ON THE VISIT LIST. HE IS ON A AGG. CHARGE WHICH THEY ARE GOING PRETTY HARD ON AGG, CHARGES HERE IN TEXAS THIS MEANS HE USED A WEAPON . IF THIS IS HIS FIRST TIME UP FOR PAROLE HE NEEDS TO HAVE SOME CLASSES BEHIND HIM. HOW MANY YEARS DID HE GET? TEXAS SAYS THEY MUST HAVE 1/4 OF THEIR SENC. SERVED EACH CASES ARE DIFF. JOHN HAS A PAROLE VIOLATION NO NEW CHARGE BUT THE ORG. WAS 20 BACK IN THE 80'S WENT BACK ON THE VIOLATION IN 1998 THEY TOOK HIS STREET TIME OF SEVEN YEARS AWAY. HE WAS IN SEG. FOR GANG INVOLEMENT. SO HIS TIME WAS FLAT DAY FOR DAY UNTIL HE WENT INTO A PROGRAM FOR GANG MEMBERS, NOW HE GETS GOOD TIME WHICH NOW TOTALS ALMOST 12 YRS W/ GOOD TIME 5 YRS. WITH FLATIME INC. AND HE ONLY GOT 20 YEARS. AND HE WENT BEFORE THE BOARD 2 TIMES AND THEY STATED HE HAD NOT HAD ENOUGH TIME ON THE SENT. NOW WE GO UP AGAIN IN MARCH 2003. SO LIKE I SAID EACH CASE IN DIFF. EMAIL ME IF YOU NEED TO TALK PRIVATE I WELL CALL YOU SINCE IT IS LONG DISTANCE. YOUR HUBBY IS RIGHT DOWN THE ROAD FROM ME.:D :D

I received a GREAT deal of information by calling the unit directly. If you make ANY mistakes trying to visit, they most likely will not care or help you out. KNOW the rules EXACTLY before you do something, the most obvious and best way is to call and ask questions.

Also, the Ombudsman's office is GREAT. I strongly advise using them also. Send them an email and ask specific questions. You will need a lot of information, and this is their job.

Your first place to go is to the unit itself, then to the Ombudsman. Now, sites like this are also great.

I strongly advise also joining TIFA at www.tifatalk.org and ******************/tifatalk

Hope the best for you, TDCJ really sucks to deal with!

Jim

Thanks for the plug for TIFA, Jim. Our website URL is actually http://www.tifa.org .


Here are some other resources related to the parole process in Texas:

http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/bpp/
Texas Board of Pardons and Parole
(this website has been extensively improved recently, so be sure to explore all of the links therein)

http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/publications/parole/parole_in_tx/pit-quikref.htm
Parole in Texas Quick Reference Index

http://www.cjpc.state.tx.us/reports/parprob/
Texas Criminal Justice Policy Council
Reports on Parole System

http://www.paroletexas.com/
Habern, O'Neil,& Buckley L.L.P.
Attorneys and Counselors at Law
P.O. Box 627
Riverside, Texas 77367

http://www.33parole.com/sys-tmpl/faqaboutus/
THE PAROLE EDGE NETWORK
P O BOX 2066
KELLER, TX 76244


Keep in mind that eligibility for parole and the likelihood of receiving a positive rating by the parole board vary greatly depending on the offense of conviction and the sentence length.

We at TIFA have some very informative documents that relate to (1) the newly revised parole guidelines in Texas and (2) preparing a packet of supporting letters and other documentation for an inmate's file once he/she is actually scheduled for parole review. Please contact me at execdir@tifa.org for the Word versions, which contain some tables and other items that are incompatible with plain text format. (They are too large to post here.)

----------------------------------------
Shannon N. Walton, MSSW
Executive Director
Texas Inmate Families Association (TIFA, Inc.)
P.O. Box 181253, Austin, TX 78718
512-695-3031 [mobile]
866-291-6564 [Texas toll-free]
http://www.tifa.org
http://******************/group/tifatalk/