County jail population steadily increases

The Henderson County Jail is steadily filling up as the expanded and renovated facility receives inmates from neighboring counties.

Friday, the jail census displayed record high numbers, with 434 inmates in the facility. That’s up from an average jail population of 305 in June. The growth is a combination of out-of-county inmates and an increase in arrests within the county.

Jail officials reported 119 inmates housed for other counties, Friday. The majority of the out-of-county inmates are from Smith County, followed by Freestone County, Sheriff’s Department records stated. A by-county breakdown of the inmate total was not available Friday.

The county entered an interlocal agreement with Smith County in May to house prisoners at a cost of $38 per day. Nutt said Smith County began with a small number of prisoners to test Henderson County’s operation of the new facility. The first group of Smith County inmates — eight females — arrived in June.

Since then Smith County has steadily increased the number of prisoners sent to the new facility. According to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, as of July 1, Smith County was paying to house 141 prisoners at jails in Henderson and other counties.

The Henderson County Jail expansion project first came under consideration in the late 1990s. An $8.5 million bond for the project was approved by voters in November 2005.

Henderson County Judge David Holstein has commended the government officials and voters of the county who moved the project to the forefront.

Smith County officials have attempted to address the overcrowded jail situation in recent years.

The current jail has a capacity of 755 and has steadily been above the 90 percent TCJS cut-off point in recent years. As of July 1, 685 prisoners were in the facility — putting it at 90.35 percent of capacity.

Smith County could remain a source for out-of-county inmates for the forseeable future.

Smith County voters rejected a bond election in 2007 that would have funded a new jail for the county. Efforts in 2008 also failed.

According to Jail Standards, a pair of nearby counties have jail projects in motion. Ellis County is building a 291 bed expansion with a tentative completion date of July, 2010. Rusk County has a project underway that would provide 192 beds by May, 2010.