Houston plans 'sobering center' at shelter instead of jail

84-bed facility would allow people whose only offense is being drunk to bypass jail.

Houston — The Houston Chronicle is reporting; City officials plan to open a "sobering center" at the Star of Hope Mission downtown later this year. It would be an 84-bed facility that would allow people whose only offense is being drunk to bypass jail.

Houston police arrest 19,000 people a year for public intoxication, racking up $4 million to $6 million in jail costs.

To read more on this story, head to The Houston Chronicle's website: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Houston-plans-sobering-center-at-shelter-3368653.php [1]