CRIMINAL JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CUTTING 1,100 JOBS, SO FAR

The job cuts feared for months by the state's prison and parole employees
because of the budget crisis are no longer an abstract notion. So far,
Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials have contacted more than
1,100 administrative and support workers to tell them that their jobs will
end by fall.

This week, about 400 employees are receiving hand-delivered letters with
news that their positions are being cut. And the school district that
offers vocational and academic training to inmates told 169 teachers the
same thing last week.

"We're belt-tightening, but we're still holding our pants up," said
department spokesman Larry Todd, referring to the department's efforts to
make do with fewer people. "We just have to trim down and continue to be
efficient."

The cuts - which don't include corrections or parole officers - are the
result of the new state budget that reduced the department's funding over
the next two years by $230 million, about 5 percent.

As many as 1,500 of the department's more than 41,000 workers might lose
their jobs by Aug. 31, the end of the fiscal year, officials said.

All the affected workers have the option of becoming corrections officers
in one of the 109 prison units throughout the state. Those who don't can
compete for some open positions within the department, officials said.

So far, more than 40 percent have been placed in other positions. Others
have retired early or simply left, said Carol Blair Johnston, the
department's deputy human resources director.

"This has been a real challenge, to support employees who are going through
this process," she said. "But we have been very successful in placing staff."

The teaching cuts, from the independent Windham School District, means some
of the less-popular vocational programs will end. For example, inmates
won't be able to take classes on sheet metal, but computer training still
will be offered.

"We've got to help inmates get prepared for a job in the free world," Mr.
Todd said.

The department also plans to continue emphasizing high school equivalency
certificates, or GEDs, to qualified inmates.

But fewer teachers could mean inmates will be forced to study more on their
own or turn to other inmates, Mr. Todd said.

About 190 positions for employees who helped inmates with substance abuse
problems were cut in recent weeks.

The administrative and support workers being notified this week include
chaplains and mail employees, among others.

"If the mail gets delayed a day or so, that's just the way it's going to be
because of the budget cuts," he said. "The Legislature provided us the
budget, and they knew that we'd have to make some cuts, and that's what we
are doing."