(AP) AUSTIN — After spending $1.26 million over three months on an empty juvenile prison in Eagle Lake, the Texas Youth Commission said today it is canceling the controversial contract.

It’s unclear whether the agency will reclaim the money.

Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, said he had assurances from the TYC that all the money would be recovered from the prison operator, Youth Services International.

“I was told [by TYC Executive Commissioner Cherie Townsend] that they’re going to reimburse the funds,” Mr. Whitmire said. “They know they weren’t delivering a service. If that company would like to be considered again, they’re returning all the money.”

But a TYC press release said only that the vendor has been asked to account for how much they’ve spent so far. The last two checks to the vendor have been canceled.

The juvenile justice agency, still recovering from a sexual and physical abuse scandal in 2007, came under fire last week when lawmakers learned its former conservator had agreed to pay more than $1 million in start-up fees for the Houston-area prison. Richard Nedelkoff was relieved of his duties last week after Gov. Rick Perry said the agency was ready to operate on its own.

The point of the contract, agency officials said, was to do what state leaders had asked of them – to quickly get kids in facilities closer to their homes. But lawmakers said they never authorized paying generous start-up fees for prisons without any kids in them. And they questioned the value of opening a 119-bed facility when the TYC’s population was already declining.

Today, Ms. Townsend, who was not at the TYC when the contract was signed, said in a statement that the TYC is re-evaluating its needs.

“We must fully utilize our existing resources and develop a fiscally responsible plan that acknowledges our changing youth population,” she said.

TYC officials did not comment on whether they would be able to recover the money. They said they are reviewing the vendor’s expenditures with the assistance of the Texas attorney general’s office, and are hoping for “a reconciliation.”