The Houston Sobering Center will be an alternative for those arrested for public intoxication. Instead of jail, they'll be taken to the sobering center, which will be near downtown in what's now a warehouse on Ruiz Street.
Star of Hope will run the center, and the city would pay the $4 million price tag out of a police construction fund.
"There will be services for those who need them, whether in the short term or the long term, and hopefully we'll see real change for them," said Houston Mayor Annise Parker in a press release issued today.
The city says the center would ease jail overcrowding and save millions in prosecution costs.
