Published: July 02, 2008 09:40 pm            

County brings prisoners back home

As jail expansion nears, out-of-county inmates being brought back to Henderson County

With Texas Commission on Jail Standards authorization to occupy the Henderson County Jail expansion in hand, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department has returned all inmates who were being housed at other locations back home.

HCSD Asst. Chief Deputy Tony Allison said the final 19 out-of-county inmates were returned Wednesday, saving the county $42 per inmate each day. The number of out-of-county inmates has varied from about 20 to as many as 60 over the past few months.

“We’ve moved some low-risk trusty inmates into the new section,” Allison said. “We’re still doing officer training and working out some of the small details there. Anytime you have a building of this size, there’s still some finish work that has to be done”

Allison said the transition went smoothly on the first day of prisoner occupation in the new facility. So far, the inmates who moved to the new section are situated in two of the pods. Each pod can hold 48 prisoners.

“We hope within the first few days that we can do the rest of the inmate movement necessary for the contractors to start renovation of the existing jail,” Allison said.

The number of prisoners moved into the new facility during renovation will vary according to what areas are being worked on.

“There could be as much as 60 percent of the inmate population moved down to the new section during the renovation. We’re doing it in phases, so it’s hard to say at any given time many will be in the new area,” Allison said.

Temporary booking operations will be set up in the new section during the renovation. This will present its own set of challenges, Allison said.

“There will be crowded conditions for sure for a while,” Allison said. “There will be a lot less room ... We don’t foresee any major problems because we have a real good crew that has been working with us.”

County Judge David Holstein said the return of the out-of-county inmates is a major step and will start paying off immediately.

“As of today, we have no more out-of-county inmate costs,” Holstein said. “That was our No. 1 objective. It’s been a major concern throughout the whole year.”

In November 2005, voters passed an $8.5 million bond to pay for the jail expansion project. To that, the county added about $3.5 million of its own money to allow for the construction of the new wing, plus renovation of the jail, built in 1991. Earlier estimates placed the project’s completion date at Jan. 1, 2008. Delays have moved the finish line to mid-August.

Holstein said the day the county can board out-of-county prisoners is nearing, but he can’t pinpoint a date.

“We’ve already had people contacting us about out-of-county prisoners. The glass is more than half full. Just look at where we are as opposed to three years ago when we started this endeavor,” Holstein said.

        

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