Done deal: TDCJ will close Dawson, Mineral Wells units

It's official: The Texas Department of Criminal Justice will shutter two prison units operated by Corrections Corporation of America - the Dawson State Jail in Dallas and the Mineral Wells pre-parole transfer facility - for a two-year savings of $97 million. The Lege had formally delegated the decision which units to close to TDCJ, but no other facilities ever arose as likely candidates, despite complaints by locals in Mineral Wells that this would hurt the economy. Coupled with the closure of the Central Unit in 2011, that'll put Texas three down from a high of 112 facilities. If the Lege would pass just a few, modest de-incarceration reforms for low-level, nonviolent offenders, a task forestalled this year by the failure of the House Calendars Committee to set such bills for a vote, they could easily close more in 2015.