Some 197 juveniles are being transferred out of Coke County Juvenile facility today, after Texas Youth Commission officials found the conditions of the facility to be unsafe.

TYC released a statement yesterday saying it would remove all youths incarcerated at the Geo Corporation’s Coke County Juvenile Justice Center (JJC) in Bronte after audits of the facility raised “serious concerns” about the youths’ wellbeing.

Dimitria Pope, acting Executive Director of TYC, found the facility to be in an “advanced state of disrepair,” that programming and rehabilitation efforts were not being pursued, and the overall health and safety of the youths were in jeopardy.

The problems at the Coke County JJC first came to light on Sept. 24 when a top TYC official discovered unsanitary conditions throughout the facility, the TYC release said. An unannounced audit of all phases of operations at JJC was begun by TYC officials on Wednesday Sept. 26. The audit went through the weekend, when Pope ordered all the juveniles to be transferred. TYC also brought in additional security staff and deployed law enforcement officials from the Officer of Inspector General.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst released a statement yesterday on the transfer of the juveniles. “I am extremely concerned,” he said, “that even after the Legislature took swift action earlier this year to protect the juveniles in Texas Youth Commission custody, horrible treatment by a private contractor continued until today … Let me reiterate what I said earlier this year when widespread abuse within TYC was discovered: I will not tolerate any kind of abuse or neglect of juveniles in the state’s custody.”

Said Pope: “TYC’s number one priority is the safety and well being of those youths under our care. The unsafe conditions I witnessed at Coke County this weekend are unacceptable. We have zero tolerance for any form of abuse within the system, and those responsible parties will be held accountable.”

Said Gov. Rick Perry: “The decisive action taken by Ms. Pope is a clear indication of the positive changes underway at the Texas Youth Commission. I am deeply disappointed that conditions at the facility have deteriorated to this point, but am confident that today’s actions will remedy the situation.”

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