Let’s talk about our jail: I recently talked with one of my neighbors who was convinced that because we don’t have a jail, we don’t put bad people in jail. Wrong - at the last Commissioners Court, the Jail Report put our average daily jailed at 15.5, way up from the seven or eight incarcerated we used to average just a few short years ago. Please rest assured that criminals still go to jail, and those determined to be medically a ‘danger to self or others’ go to a mental health facility.
Recorded in Commissioners Court Record: The choice to not repair the jail and retain the capacity of eight prisoners was made by a former sheriff, who chose to operate the jail as a ‘holding facility.’ His department, his decision. The funds that would have paid for repairs were then budgeted for an extra deputy and a van for transportation of prisoners. Please also note that the high cost isn’t just the building; staffing is a huge problem for most of Texas jails. Hamilton County has a jail that passes Jail Standards, however they also send their prisoners out of county for lack of qualified jailers to operate their jail.
Next FICTION needing correction: We are wasting money housing prisoners out of county. Wrong - the charge is between $50 and $60/day to house prisoners out of county whereas the 32-bed jail that was proposed a couple of years ago, with a construction cost of around $9 million, would have raised the cost to $108/day. That’s with factoring the income from surplus bed capacity. Transportation cost is not a significant factor because prisoners are typically transported only once or twice for court with the great majority of medical issues being treated in the host jail or in their community health facility. When the jail was proposed, the Commissioners Court appointed a citizen’s committee, composed of three citizens, three law enforcement, and three commissioner court members. They spent a lot of time studying the facts and numbers of the proposed jail and voted against recommending it for a county wide referendum.
I recently visited with the Mason County Sheriff, Joe Lancaster, whose county is in a similar position to San Saba County. He believes that one can build a 60-bed facility that is constructed by a ‘pod’ method for around $4.5 million. If he proves correct, that would be twice the capacity with half the cost. We will continue to talk. Our court has never been opposed to building a jail, just not eager to do so in a manner that might bankrupt the county.
Winter is upon us, so please stay safe and warm.
May God bless you and our beloved San Saba County.