September 2006, Laura K. Saegert, Appraisal Archivist
Agency contact
None, records are at the Archives.
Records Series Review
Series Title: Construction Division administrative files
Agency holdings:
Unknown.
Project review:
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) contacted the Archives
in late August 2006 asking for a review of their building construction
project files so they could make some disposal decisions - either transfer
to the Archives or destroy the records. We had one accession of records
from this series that was waiting appraisal already in the Archives,
consisting of about 88 cubic ft. While reviewing the boxes in our stacks
I discovered a few boxes that do not belong with this series. Two are
boxes of photographs (some construction, some general TDCJ photos) that
belong with an existing series of photographs in the processed TDCJ
records. I will add these boxes of photographs to that series. There
was also a transfile of seemingly routine administrative files of the
Facilities Division - these will be appraised separately, and a transfile
of self-evaluation materials (working files) for a Sunset Commission
evaluation in the mid 1980s. This series review concerns the routine
administrative files of the Facilities Division.
Description:
These are general administrative files of the Texas Department of Corrections
Construction Division, dating about 1982-about 1985. The records consist
of purchase requisitions, internal memoranda, lists of prospective architects
and engineers, a report on milk or milk products, list of employees,
unit construction reports, and unit budget proposals and other budget
files. Memos concern the budget and few other topics, namely fire safety,
brick and block production, and inmates allowed to work in construction.
The bulk of the files are budget working files for several fiscal years.
Files consist of about 1.5 cubic ft.
Purpose:
Budget working files (which constitute the bulk of this series) document
the work done by this division in submitting its budget requests to
the agency head.
Agency program:
"An Act to Establish a State Penitentiary" was passed in 1848
by the Second Legislature. The act established a governing body of the
penitentiary as a three-member Board of Directors, appointed by the
Governor, with the approval of the Senate. The Board was responsible
for creating and distributing a set of rules and bylaws for the administration
of the penitentiary, overseeing the treatment of convicts, preparing
an annual inventory of property, and making an annual report to the
Governor. Over the years, the name and composition of the Board changed.
While its basic functions were not greatly altered, some duties were
added. These included acquiring land for the Huntsville and Rusk facilities,
purchasing machinery, effecting repairs, leasing the penitentiaries,
leasing convicts for outside labor, purchasing and/or leasing farms
for the employment of convicts, and providing for the transfer of convicts
from county jails to the penitentiary. During the 19th century the direct
management of the prison was through the inspector, later known as the
superintendent. Other officers included assistant superintendents, inspectors
of outside camps, the financial agent, and physicians. The superintendent
and financial agent had the most direct dealings with the Board and
the Governor in the management of the prison system.
The prison system began as a single institution, located in Huntsville,
known as the Huntsville Penitentiary. Convicts were put to work in various
shops and factories housed within the institution. In 1871, the legislature
directed that the penitentiary be leased to private individuals (Chapter
21, 12th Legislature, 1st Called Session). These men, known as lessees,
paid the state for the convict labor and use of facilities, and in turn,
managed the system, including clothing and feeding the convicts and
paying the guards. It was during this period that the outside camp system
was firmly established as part of the prison system. In addition to
the use of convicts in and around the prison, the convicts were hired
out to large labor employers, mainly plantation owners and railroad
companies. A second prison facility, Rusk Penitentiary, was built between
1877 and 1882. It began receiving convicts in January of 1883.
In 1881, the Legislature reorganized the prison system, abolishing
the Board of Directors, and creating in its place a Penitentiary Board,
consisting of the governor, the state treasurer, and the prison superintendent
(Chapter 49, 17th Legislature, Regular Session). In April 1883, the
administrative system was again reorganized, with the board comprised
of the governor and two commissioners appointed by the governor (Chapter
114, 18th Legislature, Regular Session). In 1885, the board composition
changed once more, now consisting of three commissioners appointed by
the governor (House Bill 562, 19th Legislature, Regular Session). This
board was succeeded by the Board of Prison Commissioners in 1910, which
was composed of three commissioners appointed by the governor (Senate
Bill 10, 31st Legislature, 4th Called Session). The legislation that
created the new board also directed the prison system to begin operating
again on state account, i.e., lessees no longer managed the prison system,
effective in January 1911. Convicts, or inmates, were housed and worked
in one of the two prisons or on one of several state prison farms. The
shop industries slowed down while the prison farms expanded. This arrangement
made it more difficult to provide education and other reform measures.
Such measures were generally practiced at Huntsville, with some teaching
extended to a couple of prison farms by the early 1900s.
The Texas Prison Board replaced the Board of Prison Commissioners as
the governing body for the Texas Prison System in 1927, increasing in
size to nine members (House Bill 59, 40th Legislature, Regular Session).
The members of the board were appointed by the governor, with senate
approval, to six year overlapping terms. The Board formulated the policies
and the manager carried them out. During the Board's tenure, 1927-1957,
the Board made changes in the system including more emphasis on prison
reform, teaching, recreation--including the establishment of the Texas
Prison Rodeo--and a new method of classifying inmates. The Texas Prison
System became the Department of Corrections in 1957 (Senate Bill 42,
55th Legislature, Regular Session). This Department was governed by
the Board of Corrections, composed of nine members appointed by the
governor with the advice and consent of the senate to six year overlapping
terms.
In 1989, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) and the Board
of Criminal Justice were created (House Bill 2335, 71st Legislature,
Regular Session). The Board is composed of nine members appointed by
the governor with the advice and consent of the senate to six year overlapping
terms. The governor may not appoint more than two members who reside
in an area encompassed by the same administrative judicial region. This
new agency absorbed the functions of three agencies: the Department
of Corrections, the Board of Pardons and Paroles, and the Texas Adult
Probation Commission.
As of 2006, divisions of the Department of Criminal Justice are the
Parole Division, the Community Justice Assistance Division (former Adult
Probation Commission), Correctional Institutions Division, Correctional
Managed Health Care, Executive Services (Public Information Office and
the Research, Evaluation and Development Group), Health Services Division,
Human Resources Division, Office of the General Counsel, Office of the
Inspector General, Rehabilitation and Reentry Programs Division, State
Counsel for Offenders, Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical
or Mental Impairments, Victim Services Division, Internal Audit, and
the Windham School District. Direct management of the prison system
is through an executive director, with each division headed by a director
and each individual prison unit managed by a warden.
The Facilities Division duties include facility planning, design, construction,
maintenance, and environmental quality assurance and compliance. The
Facilities Division headquarters is located in Huntsville but has maintenance
employees working at state owned and operated facilities throughout
the state. The Engineering Department provides professional engineering
and architectural support to the agency. The engineers, architects and
project administrators assigned to the Engineering Department perform
oversight, design, and construction operations as well as act as consultants
for the Maintenance Department, and any other office requiring technical
assistance. The Maintenance Department maintains all facilities owned
and operated by the TDCJ. Maintenance departments are located on each
unit operated by the Agency. Headquarters staff is responsible for assisting
in the maintenance and repair process by providing technical guidance,
training and supervision to unit maintenance staff, by organizing projects
constructed by the Maintenance Department, assisting in reducing energy
consumption and developing procedural guidance for maintenance.
(Sources: Various editions of the Guide to Texas State Agencies, the
website of the Dept. of Criminal Justice (http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/index.htm;
accessed September 7, 2006), and the records themselves.)
Arrangement:
Arranged as received, roughly by record type.
Access constraints:
None known.
Series data from agency schedule: or Suggested series from state Records
Retention Schedule:
No relevant series found on the schedule,
Appraisal decision:
The vast majority of these materials are budget working files for several
fiscal years with some topical or general administrative files also
in the box. Budget working files are not an archival record and they
can be discarded. The few remaining administrative files seem to have
little value as a unit and I cannot see any reason they should be retained.
I recommend all the budget and administrative files be destroyed.
These files were appraised to be not archival and where destroyed.
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