LITTLEFIELD, Texas (AP) – Outside of a struggling West Texas town, about a mile from the high school, sits a one-story brick building, its perimeter fencing topped with razor wire. Since last fall, it’s been home to some of Texas’ most violent sex offenders.
The former prison re-opened after the state overhauled its civil commitment program for convicted sex offenders following a state investigation that found the previous operation was poorly managed and ineffective for 16 years. The men had been scattered in halfway houses across Texas, and no one in the program had successfully completed it and re-entered the broader community.
It’s at this facility, about 40 miles from Lubbock, where officials believe the in-patient treatment protocol will yield better results for those confined here by court order due to its more intensive and therapeutic nature, according to Marsha McLane, the top official with the Texas Civil Commitment Office.
“We expect people to graduate … and get out on their own and do what they need to do to be safe and law-abiding citizens,” McLane said. “This is not a warehouse for sex offenders.”
Critics, however, contend the new facility is just that. They also say the private operator is interested in only profit, not rehabilitation. Plus, the program’s overhaul will be compared against those in 19 other states and the District of Columbia, all of which permit civil commitment of convicted sex offenders who are considered likely to commit new sex crimes after finishing prison sentences.