Phone +1 713-224-6584 | ||
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Similar FDC Houston, Harris County Jail, Bakers Street Jail, HPD Central Patrol Sta, Harris County Juvenile | ||
Joe Kegans State Jail is a state jail of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice located along the northeast edge of Downtown Houston, Texas. The approximately 1 acre (0.40 ha) facility for men is located .5 miles (0.80 km) south of Interstate 10.
The detention facility building that Kegans uses first opened in February 1995 as a place to house nonviolent offenders in order to relieve prison overcrowding. The unit closed after four months of use because not enough inmates had been put there to justify the additional expenses. The building had been unoccupied for two years before it re-opened in 1997. The building was formally dedicated at 10 A.M. on Wednesday October 15, 1997. As of 1997 all prisoners at the unit are Harris County offenders convicted of state jail felonies such as non-violent property crimes. The unit was named after Joe Kegans, a state district judge who died in 1997 at 69 years of age.
The Kegans Jail, along with the Pam Lychner State Jail, serves state jail offenders from Harris County. Lychner and Kegans have the same wardens and management. As of 2001 Kegans serves lower risk offenders.