Orrrcn oF THE Govnnxon RICK PERRY GOVERNOR

}l4.ay

16,2014

The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr. Attorney General U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW V/ashington, D.C. 20530-0001 Dear Attorney General Holder:

Thank you for your May 13,z\l4,letter regarding the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PRF.A),. The State of Texas takes sexual assaults of any kind very seriously, and we have made clear fhaf such crimes will not be tolerated, Our proactive approach to combatting sexual assault extends equally to those that occur in correçtional facilities. Accordingly, we have.taken a range of mèasures to prevent such assaults in our correctional facilities and agree with the intent and goals of PREA, Flowever, the rules as written in PREA make compliance extremely difficult for Texas and, therefore, j eapardize an objective we all supporl: reducing sexual assault in correctional facilities to the maximum possible extent.

No one disputes PREA's good intentions, but the standards as currently written do not adequately allow for diffçrences among states' juvenile laws, impose substantial financial burdens on communities and set unrealistic compliance dates, Texas has shared our suçcesses and challenges with your office and has sought assistance in our efforts to seek compliance. Unfortunately, our legitimate conçerns regarding the unfeasible standards on cross-gender viewing, youthful offenders and staffing ratios have not been properly addressed by DOJ. For example, approximately 40 percent of correctional officers within Texas Department- of Criminal Justiiç (TDCJ) male units are women. To comply with the currently prohibited çrossgender viewing standards, TDCJ would be forced to deny female officers job assignments and þromotion opportunities solely because they are women, This is a direct violation of federal employment discrimination laws.

In addition, PREA defines youthful offenders as those under the age of 18 and maintains that offenders be separated from the adult inmate population, The federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDP Act) also requires that juvenile inmates be separated from adult inmates, but defines adult inmates as those who have reached the age of full criminal responsibility under applicable state law, which in Texas is 17. This creates a conflict that would require Texas to either violate the JJDP Act by placing adult 17-year-old offenders in juvenile faiilities or violate PREA by keeping 17-year-old adult offenders with other adult offenders aged 1 I or older. This could require the construction of new correctional facilities or the extensive modification of existing facilities in order to house only offenders who are I7 years old, An

Posr Orncr Box

-12428

AusnN, Tnras 78711 (512)463-2000 (Yotcz)/Du,t" 7-1,-1, ron R¡r.ev Sprurcrs

Vrslr wv.Tpx.tsOxuwr.colø tue OmcrAL Wrs SrrE or nrs SIAT? or Tnns

The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.

May 16,2014 Page2

alternative solution would be changing Texas law to change the definition of full age of responsibility to 18. But since our legislature meets only in odd numbered years, the soonest Teias could possibly meet this requirement would be in 2015 and only then if the Texas Legislature changes the law.

Also, the cost to implement the mandated staffing ratios within juvenile facilities would be unsustainable for many counties with limited operating budgets. Appropriate staffing ratios should be determined by each state based on recommendations from professionals with operational knowledge. Finally, certification that all facilities under executive control are còmpliant with PREÃ standards is not realistic given the lack of cerlified PREA auditors and auditing tool for lock-up facilities.

an

While Texas is able and willing to comply with most PREA standards, the "all or nothing" approach DOJ is insisting on here makes compliance impossible for Texas until these three standards are revised. I have tasked TDCJ, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety to do everything in their power to eliminatç sexual assaults in our criminal justice system, including implementing those measures within PREA that can be adopted át this time. However, absent revisions to the three aforementioned standards, the creátion of an audit tool for lock-up facilities and a realistic certification timeline that would make compliance possible, Texas facilities remain unable to comply with PREA standards, Sincerely,

?rce

Rickffi Governor RP:kwp cc:

Honorable David Dewhurst, Lieutenant Governor, State of Texas Honorable Joe Straus, Speaker, Texas House of Representatives Honorable John Whitmire, Chairman, Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee Honorable Abel Herrero, Chairman, Texas House of Representatives, Criminal Jurisprudence Committee Mr. David Reilly, Interim Executive Director, Texas Juvenile Justice Department Mr. Brad Livingston, Executive Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice Colonel Steve McCraw, Director, Texas Department of Public Safety Texas Congressional Delegation

The The The The