The Lieutenant Governor released an interim charge stating that the criminal justice committee should study the use of administrative segregation in TDCJ, including issues related to: the frequency and justification of its use; the process and classification system which determines an inmate's placement; the impact on prisoners' mental health and recidivism rates; the process of reviewing placement and inmates' transition into both the general prison population and the general public; options for alternative confinement arrangements; and the potential for the expansion of the serious And Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) or similar programming in order to improve inmates' transition from solitary confinement to the general public.

January 13, 2012