Inmate housing agreement costs county $3.65 million

Hays County will spend $3.65 million in two years consolidating overflow inmates to one county.

Commissioners expressed both reluctance and relief at Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting, claiming that the situation, although not ideal, will be the most affordable option for Hays County taxpayers.

“I wish we didn’t have to do this,” Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe said. “But we’re in a situation where I think it’s a good alternative to consolidate our prisoners, and I’m hoping we will be able to bring them all back soon.”

Hays County Chief Deputy Mike Davenport also voiced his support for the agreement.

“I tell people, drive around Texas,” Davenport said. “Somebody’s gonna go ‘Hey, look for a Hays County vehicle’ because you’ll probably see one. That’s been a human resource problem, a financial problem with paying for fuel and vehicles, but also a risk to the officers, a risk to the inmate, a risk to the public, and a financial risk to our taxpayers.”

On Tuesday, Commissioners voted 4-1 against County Judge Ruben Becerra to execute an intergovernmental agreement between Haskell County, LaSalle Corrections West LLC, and Hays County for the housing of overflow inmates.

There are currently 160 overflow inmates from the Hays County Jail. The agreement guarantees 100 jail beds by Oct. 1 and 200 jail beds heading into FY 24 and 25.

Judge Becerra justified his dissenting vote on the grounds that the county should hire more corrections officers and increase officer pay to maintain jail capacity.

“Couldn’t we turbo boost the pay for those corrections positions?” Becerra asked Davenport. “Because we were literally pouring out ridiculous amounts of money on outsourcing. I mean, there’s an opportunity to give you a dozen correctional officers with some sign-on bonus, some high dollar sign-on bonus. I believe we’re not doing everything we can to support you.” Davenport responded that because the Hays County Sheriff’s Office is currently going through union negotiations, “that would be a contractual issue.”

The current capacity of the Hays County Jail facility is 410 inmates, according to a report from the Hays County Sheriff’s Office. Davenport told Becerra that the county would need to hire 12 additional correctional officers in order to keep all the inmates in house.

The two year agreement can be terminated if the court chooses not to appropriate funds at the start of a budget year, according to the Office of General Counsel.