(March 23, 2007)--A panel of prosecutors, juvenile prison officials and community activists will review records of nearly all youth inmates to see if their sentences were extended unfairly.

Friday’s announcement comes after complaints from advocates for Texas Youth Commission inmates and their families who say sentences are often extended for capricious reasons or in retaliation for filing grievances.

TYC special master Jay Kimbrough says the panel will review documentation on each inmate's sentencing extension and discuss whether the decision was just and appropriate.

The panel will make a suggestion to a retired judge, who will decide whether the inmate should be immediately released.

Kimbrough said about nine in ten TYC inmates have had their sentences extended.

He says he has "no confidence in the integrity of that entire system."

The Texas Youth Commission incarcerates about 4,700 offenders ages 10 to 21 who are considered the most dangerous, incorrigible or chronic.

Friday’s announcement comes a week to the day after board members of the state's troubled youth prison system relinquished their power en masse.

The members of the Texas Youth Commission board acted after recommending a system-wide rehabilitation plan that calls for stricter inmate supervision and new procedures for reporting and investigating sex abuse allegations.

The TYC board turned over its power to acting executive director Ed Owens.

He was hired to overhaul an agency dogged by allegations that inmates were sexually and physically abused in facilities around the state.

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Information About Central Texas TYC Units
(Source: Texas Youth Commission)
The Marlin Orientation & Assessment Unit is the gateway facility for all youth - male and female - committed to the Texas Youth Commission by juvenile courts across the state of Texas. The facility is located on approximately 60 acres in historic Marlin, Texas, southeast of Waco. The facility's budgeted capacity is 436 students. The staff compliment is 404 employees and is comprised of clinicians, diagnosticians, educators, professional child-care and correctional staff, licensed counselors, medical staff, and administration and support staff.

McLennan County State Juvenile Correctional Facility (MCSJCF) is located in McLennan County on 107 acres, and is adjacent to the town of Mart, Texas, a small rural farming and ranching community about 20 miles southeast of Waco. MCSJCF is the largest young offender rehabilitation complex in the state of Texas with over 680 employees. This high-security facility of the Texas Youth Commission has the capacity to accommodate 656 boys.

John Shero State Juvenile Correctional Facility (formerly San Saba State School) is a secure, high-restriction juvenile correctional facility operated by the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) in the rural community of San Saba, Texas. It originally opened as an adult facility for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in June of 1992 and remained a part of that agency until its transfer to TYC in September of 1995. After renovations and expansion to accommodate the needs of a juvenile population, it received its first youth on February 5, 1996. There are now more than 300 staff employed with a budgeted bed capacity of 356 male youth committed by juvenile courts across Texas.

Other TYC Facilitites

Institutions
Al Price State Juvenile Correctional Facility (Beaumont, Texas), moderate security, houses 312 inmates.
Corsicana Residential Treatment Center (Corsicana, Texas), high security, specialty facility, houses 170 inmates.
Crockett State School (Crockett, Texas), moderate security, houses 265 inmates.
Evins Regional Juvenile Center (Edinburg, Texas), high security, houses 240 inmates.
Gainesville State School (Gainesville, Texas), fenced, maximum-security, houses 316 inmates.
Giddings State School (Giddings, Texas), high security, houses 380 inmates.
Ron Jackson State Juvenile Correctional Complex Units I & II (Brownwood, Texas), high security.
Sheffield Boot Camp (Sheffield, Texas), military-style security, houses 128 inmates.
Victory Field Correctional Academy (Vernon, Texas), military-style security, houses 336 inmates.
West Texas State School (Pyote, Texas), high security,houses 250 inmates.

Halfway Houses
Ayres House (San Antonio), moderate security, houses 24 males.
Beto House, moderate security (McAllen, Texas), houses 24 males.
Cottrell House (Dallas), community-based, serves, males 16 to 21.
McFadden Ranch (Roanoke, Texas), moderate security, houses 48 males.
Schaeffer House (El Paso, Texas), medium restriction security, houses 24 males.
Edna Tamayo House (Harlingen, Texas), moderate security, houses 24 males.
Turman House (Austin, Texas), community-based, serves males from 16 to 21.
Willoughby House (Fort Worth, Texas), community-based, serves females from 14 to 21.
York House (Corpus Christi, Texas), community-based, serves males from 16 to 21.

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