Milam County may soon house the state's first sex offender treatment program.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville is still reviewing Milam County's grant application. If approved, the $1.5 million program would bring low-level sex offenders from around the state to Cameron for treatment.
Residents are waiting on pins and needles to see if the program gets off the ground.
"It's kind of nerve-wracking, but as long as it's helping out society, I'm for it," resident Christine Box said.
"Doesn't bother me for them to come here and treat them, but when they get through with it, I would want them sent back to where they came from and not be released here," resident Cecil Widner said.
After the six-month treatment program, offenders would return to their home counties on probation.
Other counties would pay Milam $45 a day per inmate. That money would be spent converting parts of the jail into a classroom, treatment center and housing for 24 inmates.
The program would teach life skills, anger management, substance abuse rehab and GED classes, which are not available to sex offenders anywhere else in the state.
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Sex offender rehab
Cameron in Milam County could house the state's first 24 inmates in treatment.
 
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Making this program the first of its kind would give offenders a second chance at life, and the skills they need to successfully grow back into society.
"If we can make the program work here, then it can be replicated in other places," probation officer T.C. Sadler said.
If it works, and catches on, the program could end up saving the state millions by keeping low-level offenders out of the state prisons. The Council on Sex Offender Treatment found that outpatient services save at least $50,000 per person per year.
But the cards are stacked against them. Because of their sex offender status, drug or alcohol treatment facilities or schools won’t accept them.
"I believe any offender can rehabilitate themselves if that's what they want. Some sex offenders do deserve a second chance, that's why the court gives them probation. We need to set them up where they can be successful instead of setting them up for failure," corrections officer Steve Morris said.
