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Jail asking for biggest piece of Hays County pie

COUNTY BUDGET

Editor’s Note:This is the conclusion of a two-part series on the county’s recommended budget for fiscal year 2019.

Of all the major spending categories In the county judge’s recommended budget for Fiscal Year 2019, personnel is the largest expense. Within that category, the largest expense is for jail operations. The largest personnel request came from the jail —- a total of $1.4 million for new positions — and the budget, which is subject to revision, grants $666.438.

The recommended budget denies the jail a new human resources/payroll specialist and about half of the corrections officers, specialists and supervisors that were requested. The jail requested three new corrections sergeants, one of whom would start work in April; the budget grants two, including one starting in April. Of the three new corrections corporals requested, with one starting in April, the budget grants two, including one starting in April. Of the 13 new corrections specialists requested, with six to start work in April, the budget grants six total, with three to start in April. The jail also requested 30 new corrections officers, 13 of whom would start work in April; the budget grants 14, with seven starting in April.

Growing Staffing Needs

Sheriff Gary Cutler said the jail currently employs 120 corrections officers, including supervisors, and capacity at the jail is 362 beds. However, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) mandates that jails maintain a 90 percent capacity, which would mean 310 general population beds plus the clinic and segregation housing at the Hays County Jail. Jail staff reported that the average daily population is 319 percent, with in- house capacities running at 98 percent for male inmates and 103 percent for females.

The county jail is undergoing an expansion that will provide 192 more beds when it opens, which the county expects will happen by the end of 2019. Moreover, Cutler said the current jail operates under “podular-indirect inmate supervision, where inmate “pods” with some single cells are monitored with cameras and periodic electronic and visual observation. The new jail, however, will use the “direct supervision” model, which requires jailers to be stationed within inmate living areas for greater security and supervision.

“This model requires more comprehensive training,” Cutler said, “and these employees need to be on board and trained before a certificate of occupancy would be issued by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.”

The Outsourcing Problem

Even with the additional beds that will come with the jail expansion, the inmate population in Hays County is expected to exceed the TCJS requirements, meaning that outsourcing will continue.

“As one of the fastest growing coun- ties in the United States,” Cutler said, “I do not foresee a rapid solution to the inmate outsourcing problem, even with the scheduled new jail expansion.”

On Aug. 1, Cutler said, the jail inmate count was 618, with 302 outsourced. Of those, jail staff said, 22 are in Bell County, 27 are in Burnet County, one is in Gillespie County, four are in Guadalupe County, 238 are in McLennan County and 10 are in Walker County. Cutler said Hays County also has agreements with Bastrop, Caldwell and Limestone counties to outsource inmates to keep the Hays County Jail numbers within or close to TCJS standards.

Cutler said that inmate outsourcing is not a new issue, and that it has “been a concern of the County of Hays and the Office of Sheriff not only during my administration, but during the past three administrations.”

Cutler has developed a reputation for cooperating with every single Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer — though that is a requirement under Texas’ Senate Bill 4. However, ICE detainers do not appear to account for a large percentage of inmates in the county jail.

The morning of Aug. 3, Cutler said, there were no inmates being held at the county jail solely on ICE detainers. However, over the weekend, jail records show six individuals were being held for ICE.

When Hays County holds an inmate for ICE, Cutler said, they typically do not spend a long time in the county jail.

“If an individual is lawfully arrested on a state charge in Hays County and an ICE detainer is placed on him then he is released to ICE once there has been a disposition on his charge or charges,” Cutler said. “They are usually released to ICE within 24 hours.”

Regardless of the cause for detention, the daily average population in the Hays County Jail is on the rise, according to jail staff. Last year, county figures show, the average daily population was 517; last month, it was 609. The average daily population of the Hays County Jail is provided to the com- missioners court, Cutler said, and it is up to the commissioners to provide that information publicly in court. The commissioners have not made the pub- lic presentation of jail numbers part of their agenda for at least the past year.

The first county budget workshop will be held at 10 a.m. this morning on the third floor of the Hays County Courthouse. Commissioners are scheduled to hold a second budget workshop at 10 a.m. on Aug. 14. A final draft of the county budget will be up for approval in September.

Dripping Springs Century-News

P.O. Box 732
Dripping Springs, Texas 78620

Phone: (512) 858-4163
Fax: (512) 847-9054