San Jacinto County offers ways to cut costs for Liberty County Jail

As Liberty County seeks to cut costs to operating its jail facility, San Jacinto County offers possible ways to save money by housing inmates and demonstrating how a county can run a jail cheaper than private contractors.

San Jacinto County recently renewed its jail contract to house inmates for Trinity County at a rate of $38 per day. If Liberty County has 155 inmates in jail, they can pay $71.12 per inmate. The amount paid is on a sliding scale. As more inmates are housed, the price decreases. If it falls below 150, the price is the actual cost plus 15 percent.

San Jacinto County has had previous experience with housing inmates from other areas such as Polk County. At one time, San Jacinto was housing 50 inmates for Polk County, according to Capt. Thomas J. Bartlet, jail supervisor.

Bartlet said that his jail has the capacity and staff to house extra inmates from other counties and has actively sought such arrangements in the past. He supposed that they could house Liberty County inmates with adjustments made for transporting inmates to court and coverage of medical costs.

San Jacinto County Jail has an average daily inmate population of 73.08 inmates, according to Bartlet. The jail is supervised by Bartlet and is operated by four Sheriffs Office deputies, 12 jailers and an administrative assistant for a total of 18 county employees operating a jail that can house up to 144 inmates. The annual budget is approximately $1.8 million.

The inmate number includes female inmates and segregated inmates which require special detention facilities, according to Bartlet.

Liberty County has contracted with Community Education Centers, a private jail operation company, to run their county jail. There are 55 CEC employees at the jail, which consists of 31 correctional officers and the rest are support staff positions such as medical personnel, clerks and human resources. The annual jail budget for Liberty County is approximately $4 million.

The Liberty County Jail has a capacity of 389 which is 303 at the new jail and 86 at the old jail. They currently house approximately 170 inmates per day due to a personal recognizance bond program which releases first-time, nonviolent offenders to reduce costs instead of keeping them in jail while they await trial.

The new program has reduced the daily inmate population by approximately 100 inmates which has saved the county $1 million during its first year.

While on the surface, the prices seem very competitive when contrasted with Liberty County, other factors make the option not as simple as comparing prices, according to Wes Hinch, Liberty County Attorney.

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San Jacinto County offers ways to cut costs for Liberty County Jail