BEAUMONT, Texas — As new coronavirus cases in Southeast Texas and the rest of the state continue to climb the virus is very active among the incarcerated population of Jefferson County.
Jefferson County is home to three federal prisons, three state prisons and two county jails, one of which is privately operated, that together can house more than 12,000 offenders at a given time.
Both the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Stiles Unit and the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Beaumont Low have recorded high numbers of inmate cases recently. At the Stiles Unit a high number of staff cases have also been recorded.
Other than the Jefferson County Downtown Jail, which is privately operated by LaSalle Corrections, all of the facilities are just south of Beaumont off of and west of U.S. Highway 69.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Just south of the county jail sits the TDCJ’s Stiles, Gist and LeBlanc units off of U.S. Highway 69 with a combined capacity of nearly 6,500 inmates.
Just over a week ago the Stiles Unit was one of two Texas prisons with more than 670 active coronavirus cases among its inmate population.
At that time the Stiles unit had 672 active cases leaving only one other Texas prison, the Coffield Unit west of Palestine, with more active cases at 753 cases according to TDCJ data.
Currently the Gist and LeBlanc Units have 13 and one active cases respectively according to TDCJ data.
One coronavirus-related death each from the Stiles and Gist Units has been recorded according to TDCJ data.
Days later the Stiles unit dropped to only 129 active cases after more than 540 inmates were marked as recovered.
The Stiles unit, which is on a “precautionary lockdown,” currently has 2,588 inmates according to the TDCJ. Visitation at all Texas prisons has been suspended since March 13, 2020.
The state began mass testing all over the prison system, including asymptomatic inmates, in mid-May and as of July 20, 2020, has tested more than 144,000 inmates and more than 44,000 employees according to TDCJ spokesperson Jeremy Desel.
MORE | TDCJ Coronavirus Info
The state has a dozen 10-person strike teams who will visit a unit and, in one day, test the entire inmate population Desel said.
The Stiles unit has had their entire population as well as the staff tested twice since the start of the pandemic he said.
In between visits from the strike teams inmates will be tested if they are symptomatic or are potentially exposed to the virus Desel said.
If a spike in cases is detected the strike team can be sent back to the unit again.
While as of July 20 the Stiles Unit’s active case count of 129 put it at ninth among the state’s 106 units it is at the top of the list when it comes to active staff cases with 94 employees who have tested positive for the virus according to TDCJ data.
Here's a look at COVID-19 numbers in Southeast Texas prisons...
The TDCJ is following CDC guidelines and all employees wear masks along with the inmates Desel said. All employees are screened when reporting for work which includes a temperature check and screening questions he said.
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Federal Bureau of Prisons
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons operates three prisons in Jefferson County. They include the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Beaumont Low, FCI Beaumont Medium and the high security U.S. Penitentiary Beaumont with a combined capacity of more than 4,000 according the Bureau of Prisons website.
Visitation at all three of the federal prisons, about five miles southwest of the state prisons, is suspended due to the pandemic.
The FCI Beaumont Low facility, which is made up of a low security unit with 1,441 inmates and a minimum security camp with 445 inmates, had 63 active cases on July 7, 2020.
That number ballooned to 458 inmates with active COVID-19 cases by July 20, 2020, according to BOP data.
The FCI Beaumont Medium has 45 active inmate COVID-19 cases while the high security U.S. penitentiary only has one as of July 20, 2020, according to Bureau of Prisons data.
Several family members of federal inmates from both the FCI Beaumont Medium and FCI Beaumont Low have contacted 12News alleging that their loved ones are not being treated well, fed well or given adequate PPE.
The federal prisons have plenty of PPE for staff and inmates that is inventoried daily a Bureau of Prisons spokesperson told 12News via email.
Inmates and staff have been issued surgical masks and inmates are also issued three cloth facial masks which are laundered or replaced as needed the spokesperson said via email.
Three meals a day, two of which are hot meals, are being delivered by staff daily to inmate housing areas the spokesperson told 12News.
Alternate housing areas are being utilized as sleeping areas in the FCI Beaumont Low, including the gym and library, and inmates are sleeping head to foot for social distancing.
Federal inmates continue to have access to telephones, electronic messaging and the U.S. Mail to stay in contact with their friends and loved ones the spokesperson said via email.
Additionally inmate’s phone time has been extended to allow each inmate 500 minutes of phone time per month during the pandemic according to the BOP website.
Jefferson County Jails
The Jefferson County jails are currently the only jails in Southeast Texas where any offenders have tested positive for the coronavirus according to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.
Any jail with positive coronavirus cases must file a daily report with the commission.
As of July 19, 2020, the downtown jail reported one inmate and five jailers had tested positive for the coronavirus according to TCJS reports. The privately-run downtown jail’s capacity is 501 inmates according to the LaSalle Corrections website.
The Jefferson County Correctional Facility along U.S. Highway 69 just south of the Beaumont city limits is run by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
There are 91 inmates with the coronavirus and 35 jailers who have tested positive as of July 20, 2020 at the county-run facility according to the TCJS.
All inmate visitation at the Jefferson County Correctional Facility, where Monday morning’s daily roster showed 720 inmates, has been suspended since March 13, 2020.