Russell Rau began his career in correctional facility development in the middle 80s as the privatized corrections industry was emerging. Mr. Rau was involved in the development of four privately operated 500-bed pre-release facilities for the Texas Department of Corrections, considered to be the first major corrections privatization project in the United States. Experience in the private sector has given Mr. Rau a strong orientation to cost effective design / build development concepts as well as creative project financing alternatives. Additionally, prior years of government service have given him an understanding and appreciation for the governmental decision making process.
Mr. Rau had the opportunity to serve as an intern to then Harris County Commissioner Tom Bass in 1976. Harris County (Houston, Texas) is the fourth largest county in the United States. He later became a key member of the Commissioner's administrative staff and served on the Harris County Budget Review Committee, performed numerous departmental liaison activities, and functioned as the Commissioners Courts representative to the Texas State Legislature.
Commitment to his community played a key role in Mr. Rau's early professional development. He organized a community effort that led to the first emergency number system in the State of Texas. The effort included the passage of legislation to provide funding for the system, coordination of more than 35 local governments that participated in the system, and a successful public education campaign that led to voter approval of 89%. He later worked to pass statewide legislation to bring 9-1-1 service to the entire State of Texas. Governor Mark White appointed him to the legislatively established Texas Advisory Commission on Emergency Communications. During his tenure on the Commission, the structure and funding mechanisms were developed that continue to provide 9-1-1 service the citizens of Texas to this day. Mr. Rau also served on the Board of Directors of the Greater Harris County 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Network for twenty years, representing the City of Houston having been appointed by four successive Mayors.
Mr. Rau left county government in 1984 when offered an opportunity to become Senior Vice President and Director of Governmental Affairs for a large Houston based real estate development firm and financial institution network. As governmental representative, he was involved with real estate development, banking, insurance, and hospitality industry issues. Mr. Rau's governmental liaison activities were at the local, state, and national level. His commitment to community continued, leading to service on numerous local community efforts and committees. One of the more significant was his effort leading the City of Houston in its efforts to become the Host City for the 1988 Democratic and Republican National Conventions.
Mr. Rau's entry into the field of corrections began in 1986 when a group of Texas based companies ask him to assist them in responding to a Request for Proposal issued by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to design, build and finance four State facilities. Mr. Rau played a lead role in the preparation of the response, the facility siting, financing, the development of a project team, the garnering of community support and other key requirements. Mr. Rau's work led to the award and the successful development of these four facilities. Following Mr. Rau's successful Texas effort, he worked as a consultant to several emerging companies in the privatized corrections field.
In 1989, he became Correctional Services Corporation's (CSC) Senior Vice President, Facility Development. In his role Mr. Rau was responsible for all of the company's zoning, community and governmental relations, project development, land acquisition and siting and construction oversight. In his 15 years as a key member of CSC's management team, Mr. Rau oversaw the successful development of numerous correctional related projects. Many of his projects were born from complicated and protracted governmental decision making processes and each of the facilities developed required sensitivity to community support issues as well as the need to maintain strong rapport with local elected and appointed community leaders.
Correctional facilities Mr. Rau played a role in developing include adult, juvenile, and community corrections facilities serving local, state and federal governments. Two of his recent projects have been critical projects for the Department of Homeland Security - Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS-ICE). The first of these two facilities was the Northwest Detention Facility located in Tacoma, Washington. In addition to housing detainees awaiting the outcome of immigration matters, the facility provides office space to ICE Detention and Removal staff, the Enforcement Office of Immigration Review (the immigration court system), and Public Health Services (PHS) the provider of medical services to the detainees. Environmental issues were a major challenge during the early phases of the project as the development utilized land reconstituted as part of a major Super Fund clean-up site in the Tacoma, Washington industrial port area.
The second project developed for DHS-ICE was the South Texas Detention Complex located in Pearsall, Texas. The facility contains a design capacity of 1,120 beds including separate housing areas for male, female, and juvenile detainees. Like the Tacoma facility, the South Texas Detention Complex houses federal immigration courts, ICE staff, and Public Health Services. Mr. Rau's most recent project, is a 1,000-bed expansion of the Arizona State Prison - Florence West.
Russell Rau received his bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Houston.
“C3 stands ready to show you what you can achieve.”