Texas. Legislature. Joint Committee to Investigate the State Penitentiary System

The Texas Joint Committee to Investigate the State Penitentiary System was created in 1925 by Senate Concurrent Resolution 13 (39th Texas Legislature, Regular Session) and charged with investigating reports of graft and waste in the prison system finances and of brutal treatment of prisoners. The committee first appointed a subcommittee to make a preliminary investigation, for which it heard testimony from three witnesses, including the chief accountant of the Texas State Prison System, in January 1925. This preliminary investigation focused on the purchase of the Blue Ridge Farm by the Prison System in 1921, accounting procedures used by the Prison System, and the pardons issued by Governor Pat M. Neff.

In February 1925, the joint committee conducted their investigation and heard from over forty witnesses. The committee heard testimony from convicts, guards, and prison officials on charges of brutality and mistreatment of prisoners. They also investigated the alleged misconduct of prison officials in the handling of prison finances. The committee's final report included recommendations for annual audits, centralization of management, full-time medical staff, and the immediate dismissal or resignation of prison system employees including that of the chairman of the Board of Prison Commissioners.

The committee's report was adopted by the legislature via House Concurrent Resolution 19 (39th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 1925). A motion was made and adopted for the Senate to meet as a Committee of the Whole to hear additional evidence into the demand for resignations made by the committee. The Senate met in March and heard more testimony from witnesses and prison officials including the chairman of Prison Commissioners. The Senate concluded that mismanagement did exist in prison affairs and recommended that the governor make a thorough investigation of the situation since it was the governor who had the power to appoint and remove Prison Commissioners.

(Sources include: the guide survey completed for this material.)

From the guide to the Joint Committee to Investigate the State Penitentiary System proceedings, 1925, (Texas State Archives)