SAN MARCOS, Texas -- Arrests in Hays County are happening faster than the jail can hold.

  • Hays County Jail has 362 beds for 450 inmates
  • Hays farms out inmates to other counties at a cost to taxpayers of up to $60 per day, per inmate
  • New effort is looking to move 75 inmates into Bell County jails
  • Will the upcoming Hays County Jail expansion address the rapid growth of the inmate population?  

The Hays County Jail in San Marcos is already over capacity. 

"When you have this much growth, this fast, you're going to have, you're going to see a lot more crime in the area and you'll see more inmates," said Lt. Eric Batch with the Hays County Sheriff's Office.

It has 362 beds -- 20 of which are set aside for special cases.

Today, the county has 450 inmates. 

"We have them housed out in several different counties, we have them house in Guadalupe County, Caldwell County, Blanco County, Walker County, Gillespie County and Burnet County," said Batch.

The Sheriff's Office is hoping to find even more space an hour and a half away in Bell County.

There, two jails provide ample space.

"I know that they're going through and as long as we can do it without a burden to our taxpayers it only makes good sense to take advantage of what we have there and what we've built over the years," said Republican Bell County Commissioner John Fisher.

The two counties are working out a contract that would send inmates and Hays County money to Bell County.

Farming out inmates to other jails costs Hays County taxpayers up to $60 per day, per inmate, and moving and processing inmates, daily, can exhaust the transportation unit.

Will it end once the jail's expansion is completed? 

"We're only adding 192 beds we have approximately 150 house out, and this is two years down the road, so what's our population going to be like in two years," said Batch.

And if the county keeps growing like it has, local officials are concerned the expansion might not be enough.

The Sheriff's Office is looking to house at least 75 inmates in Bell County.

Meanwhile officials expect the Hays County jail expansion to be completed by 2020.

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