DSA Justice Projects During the past nineteen years, DSA has established a national reputation for the planning and design of Criminal Justice Facilities, including County Jails and Juvenile Detention Facilities. With over forty-two Detention Facilities completed in Texas, our experience in this specialty is vast. Cost of all Justice work in place exceeds $460 million. Much of our work is for repeat clients who have gained a strong confidence in us.
Fort Bend County Jail and Sheriff's Department Recently completed, this Jail has a capacity of 747 beds. The structure is 6 stories high and contains a total of 231,700 square feet. The plan features bi-level housing pods containing single cells on the Lower and Mezzanine Levels. Management is by means of Remote Constant Supervision, although the facility has been designed so that it may be altered to a Direct Supervision Jail. The ground floor contains Booking, Processing, Administration, Kitchen, Laundry, Property Storage, Infirmary, Holding and Sally Port. The five levels above contain all the housing areas for 594 beds. In order to cut down on inmate movement which requires additional staff, visitors are brought to Visitation Rooms on each level and exercise is located adjacent to each pod on every floor.
	Jails in Texas differ from jails designed in other states, in that most other states have adopted American Correctional Association (ACA) Standards as their criteria. These standards are less demanding and not as specific as the Texas standards. Having designed jails in other states, we believe the Texas Standards to be superior to others, but a thorough understanding of them is necessary in order to successfully design a jail in this State. Principles of our firm have contributed to the development of the Jail Standards used by the State of Texas.
Williamson County Courthouse Annex This facility contains a total of 204,200 S.F. and includes a 342-bed County Jail. The Jail has a ground floor level with three floors above for a total of 4 stories. Along with the Jail, complete facilities for the Sheriff's Department were constructed and include Dispatch, Patrol Offices, Criminal Investigation Division, Civil and Warrants, Laboratory and Training Spaces. In this plan also, visitation and exercise appear at each level in the Jail to avoid inmate movement. Jail spaces include Sally Port, Property Storage, Visitation, Booking and Processing, Magistrate, Issue and Shake Down, Commissary, Exercise, Holding and Detox, Infirmary, Intoxilizer and Video Tape, Kitchen, Laundry, and Separate Trustee Housing. A unique feature of this design is the elevated walkway between the Courts Building and the Jail which is accessible only to Court and Jail personnel for the purpose of taking inmates to the Holding Rooms at the rear of the six courtrooms without ever having any public contact.
Denton County Medium Security Facility The Denton County Medium Security Facility in Denton, Texas has received national acclaim for both its staff efficient design and its' low cost. This 384-bed addition to the original County Jail is the State's first and only direct supervision dormitory facility. The plan consists of eight housing pods of 48 inmates managed in a direct supervision manner. Each pod is accessible to its own outdoor exercise area to reduce inmate movement. Also present within each pod are the multi-purpose room, a classroom, and a medical exam room. Inmates remain in their housing pod during visiting as well with the visitors traveling directly to the pods by means of a secure corridor. Due to these design elements, inmate movement is required only going to and from Court. At a total cost of $4,491,000, the project ran $11,700 per bed at the time it was bid. This was and, as far as we know, still is the most economical jail ever constructed in Texas.