T. Don Hutto – The Mettle of the Man behind our Proud Facility
Published on January 19, 2010
Most CCA employees, old and new, are familiar with our T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, Texas.
They know of it because it’s a fellow CCA facility. They recognize it because some of their company friends began – or have continued – their careers there. They’ve also probably read about the facility in the news. Some may even be able to tell you that we opened the facility in 2006 and operate it behalf one of our long-time federal partners, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
But fewer probably know much about the name behind the facility. The facility is christened with the name T. Don Hutto for good reasons. Hutto, one of CCA’s spirited co-founders, represents the man on whose shoulders our careers and this entire correctional partnership industry stands. His moves were bold and often misunderstood at the time when CCA tested the waters and, later, ended up transforming the way corrections is done in this country.
Hutto was a well-known and incredibly respected corrections director when he stepped out on a leap of faith to help establish CCA. At that time, some of Hutto’s distinguished colleagues in public corrections systems wondered what he was doing – and why.
In 1983, when CCA secured its first contract with the federal government, Hutto saw the opportunity as a real test of our company’s flexibility. At that time, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (now known as ICE) asked CCA to design, build and manage a facility for detaining illegal immigrants in Texas – all within one month, with 86 detainees scheduled to arrive on Super Bowl Sunday of that year.
Hutto, along with fellow co-founder Tom Beasley, flew to Houston and searched for a place that could be secured. When they found the Olympic Motel, it was leased for 90 days and upgraded. Hutto even bought toiletries at Wal-Mart with his American Express card, produced photo ID cards and rolled fingerprints, while other company leaders distributed sandwiches and helped security staff escort detainees to their living quarters.
He fondly remembers, “At one point they were running to a Houston hardware store for supplies. It was a start-up before start-ups were fashionable. We met the deadline, the detainees arrived, and a new relationship was forged between government and the private sector.”
This led to the development of the facility we now know as Houston Processing Center, which today provides housing for about 1,000 detainees on behalf of ICE. So when you think about our T. Don Hutto Residential Center, take a moment to think of the man who helped make not only the facility possible, but who helped conceive our entire company and industry.