Jail outsourcing cost reaches new peak

Last week, the cost of outsourcing inmates in Hays County reached a record high for 2019. 

For the week of July 14 to July 20, outsourcing inmates cost Hays County $79,974. Of the data read by the Hays County Commissioners Court this year, last weeks’ cost was the highest amount spent this year on outsourcing inmates. The County’s daily average was 574, with a peak of 581 on July 19. The average number of outsourced males was 192, with an average of 23 outsourced females. 

In 2019, the county has spent a total of $1,423,861 on outsourcing since it began reading reports from the Hays County Sheriff's Office in the last week of January. This number does not include the three weeks that the commissioners court did not meet or did not read outsourcing information. 

For the week, inmates were outsourced to the following counties: Bastrop, Bell, Blanco, Burnett, Caldwell, Fort Bend, Guadalupe, McLennan and Walker. This marks the first week that inmates have been outsourced to Fort Bend County this year, which is around 144 miles from the Hays County Jail. 

The Hays County Jail can hold 311 inmates due to the state mandate that requires jails to keep 10% of its capacity open. When an expanded Hays County Jail is complete, it will have an additional 192 beds.