Harris County - Joint County/City Processing Center

The new Joint County/City Processing Center consolidates all Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriff’s Office intake processing operations into one modern and efficient facility.

With three full floors and a basement level and secure tunnel connection to other county jail facilities, the 246,000-square-foot facility serves the nation’s third largest county jail system, intaking and releasing approximately 800 to 900 individuals per day. In addition to inmate processing, the facility includes a full medical clinic, a 552-bed short-term assessment level as well as basement holding areas with a secure tunnel connecting the other county detention facilities.

PGAL designed the facility based on an open waiting concept for general processing, thus creating an efficient, normative environment for all facility users. This concept improves the flow of inbound and outbound detainees by better leveraging available staff resources and allowing officers to direct identified detainees to the appropriate processing areas.

Used in conjunction with enhanced areas for medical and mental health screening, Diversion workstation areas were created to provide incarceration alternatives, such as the Neuropsychiatric Center or Sobering Center. These areas can expedite eligible detainees to post bond or pay fines without entering the jail area.

Re-entry Program areas were created to reduce recidivism by providing discharge planning and other transitional services for outgoing prisoners, including housing, work programs, veterans’ services, faith-based programs, and other community treatment and services.