In 1993 the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) embarked on a 4-year, $1.5 billion construction program to eradicate its county jail backlog of approximately 30,000 inmates. Because the appropriated funding is not enough to build new "stand alone" facilities, the new units will be added on to existing institutions. By constructing a prototype at one unit, the TDCJ will identify construction problems, make any necessary changes, and develop the precasting operations. In the process of refining its construction technology and quality control, the TDCJ will train a core inmate construction team and distribute its members among the remaining eight projects, where they will provide their knowledge and expertise. The add-on facility consists of two attached buildings, one for administrative functions and the other for housing. For the prototype unit, the TDCJ is using a construction management firm in the bidding and construction processes. The project delivery method for the eight remaining units has not been decided but will be facilitated by either TDCJ construction personnel, construction management firms, or a combination of the two. Unlike Texas, Oregon has not had to deal with ballooning prison populations until recently. A "get tough" on crime initiative passed in November 1994 may more than double the prison capacity of Oregon by the year 2005. Oregon will be pursuing three strategies to address the population increase: renting beds from other States, moving short-term offenders out of the State system and into county systems, and constructing new institutions. Oregon has used and likely will continue to use the construction manager/general contractor approach to construction. Another strategy being used by Oregon to expedite access to more beds relates to siting facilities. Oregon legislators passed a bill to allow an expedited process for siting prisons that provides a site in no more than 6 months. With this super-siting methodology and its construction manager/general contractor process, Oregon will be able to construct the prison beds it needs to accommodate a medium-security population and put inmates to work in the most expeditious manner possible.