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Board receives routine reports: PREA ombudsman, independent auditor, independent ombudsman and state council updates
Summary
Multiple agency oversight offices reported routine activity: the PREA ombudsman provided inquiry and investigation counts; the independent auditor updated status of audits and follow‑ups; the independent ombudsman reviewed inquiry volume and staffing; the State Council for Offenders reported caseload and a name‑change bill passage.
Several oversight offices gave status reports to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, providing counts, audit statuses and staffing updates.
Cassandra McGilbrough, PREA ombudsman, reported activity for April–May 2025. “We did 340 PREA ombudsman inquiry,” she told the board and said the PREA office reviewed more than 236 PREA investigations and assisted with preaudits at correctional and community facilities. She also said the office attended wardens’ meetings and assisted at facilities and transitional centers.
Independent auditor Michael (first name as presented in packet) Cerrito provided an update on the office’s audit plan and follow‑ups. He said one full‑scope carryover project — incident reporting — is in the reporting process, and he described ongoing consultations on inmate custody, purchasing and the CAPS implementation. He said the office is tracking 70 recommendations: 50 implemented, 3 awaiting confirmation by final authority and 20 in ongoing status.
Brian Patrick, director of the Office of the Independent Ombudsman, said his office logged 1,439 inquiries during a 10‑week reporting period that the office used to realign its reporting calendar. He said 1,430 inquiries were from the general public and nine were legislative inquiries; his office conducted 14 unit visits during the reporting period. Patrick said the office recently promoted staff and is pursuing additional office space and staffing to meet workload demands.
Wyvon Long, director of the State Council for Offenders, reported that the council opened 178 cases and closed 96 during the period and handled roughly 3,900 pieces of correspondence. Long told the board that House Bill 3488 (as referred to in materials) was adopted into the sunset bill and that the change will remove the state council from a statutory location in chapter 841 and permit the board to consider a name change for the council.
Ending: Board members thanked the offices for their work and asked for routine follow‑up on staffing, audit implementation and the self‑study required under auditing standards.
