OPENING OF U.S. DETENTION CENTER DELIVERS SOME MUCH-NEEDED SPACE

The first U.S. detention center in Texas opened in Houston on Friday, with
officials predicting it will be well used because federal courts in the
state are experiencing a dramatic rise in prosecutions.

Sean Marler, executive assistant to the warden, said the 1,118-bed, $35
million facility will address the growing need for facilities to house
defendants awaiting trial or on trial in the Southern District of Texas.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has always depended upon bed space leased from
county facilities.

However, a 69 percent increase in drug cases filed last year and a 58
percent rise in immigration cases often make available bed-space difficult
to find.

As a result, the U.S. Marshal's Service must often transport prisoners
hundreds of miles for pre-trial conferences and other appearances in courts
in far-flung areas of the state.

The Southern District includes courts in Houston, Galveston, Victoria,
Corpus Christi, Brownsville and Laredo, Marler said.

The Western, Eastern and Northern districts of Texas will continue to house
inmates in county facilities.

The 11-story center, which took 25 months to build, spans an entire block
at 1200 Texas downtown.

The base contains staff offices and recreation/exercise areas and connects
two towers where prisoners are housed.

Maximum security cells are on the top floor, along with an exercisearea.

Sixteen of the nation's 94 federal prisons are in Texas and house 14,000
convicts, Marler said.