Numbers, costs continue to drop

The number and cost of outsourced inmates from the Hays County Jail continues to decline.

At the Hays County Commissioners Court’s March 12 meeting, Judge Ruben Becerra read aloud the weekly report from the sheriff’s office regarding jail inmate numbers, outsourcing numbers and outsourcing costs and other information.

For the week of March 3-9, the jail’s daily average population was 474, with a peak of 482 on March 6. The average daily number of male inmates outsourced to other counties was 147, while an average of 5 female inmates were outsourced. The outsourced inmates were housed in facilities in Burnet, Caldwell, McClennan and Limestone counties, at a cost of $51,569.

The last week of January — the first week for which inmate data was shared in commissioners court — the daily inmate population averaged at 537, with 192 male and 12 female inmates outsourced to jails in six counties at a cost of $68,258. All of those numbers have dropped each week since Becerra began presenting the report.

In the month of January, county jail trustees worked 4,555 hours doing kitchen work, laundry, cleaning and special projects. With work valued at an average of $12 per hour, the trusteesʼ work saved the county $54,000 that month. In February, trustees provided 4,711 of work for a savings of $56,000.

The jail’s current maximum capacity is 362 beds; however the Texas Commission on Jail Standards requires jails to keep 10 percent of their capacity free, meaning that the jail can hold 311 inmates.

Along with population and outsourcing information, at the March 12 meeting Becerra shared the number of hours that jail trustees worked and the value of that work. The addition came after a resident mentioned in public comments that inmates at the jail could perform some work there to save money. Becerra said that in the month of January, county jail trustees worked 4,555 hours doing kitchen work, laundry, cleaning and special projects. With work valued at an average of $12 per hour, the trustees’ work saved the county $54,000 that month. In February, trustees provided 4,711 of work for a savings of $56,000.

Becerra said that he would continue sharing monthly totals of the trustees’ work hours and the monetary value of that work. Precinct 4 Commissioner Walt Smith noted that there are statutory limits on the kinds of work that jail trustees can do.