Four years ago, Texas prisons were so over populated  that an estimated 17,000 more beds would be needed by 2012. But that has all changed due to prison reform.

In the past few years, the State Legislature has lessened sentencing for nonviolent offenders and instead has provided drug treatment and re-entry programs to avoid repeat offenders, as well as granting early release for well-behaved or elderly inmates. Expanding job training programs and finding alternative penalties for technical parole violations has significantly eased the burden of prison overcrowding.

The new laws seem to be working- Texas tax payers have saved hundreds of millions of dollars, violent crime rates are at a 30 year- low, and a 1,100 bed prison in Sugar Land has shut down for being too far under capacity.

If you or someone you love has been convicted of a crime, contact the Conroe criminal defense attorneys of Garg & Associates, P. C. at 281-362-2865.