SAN MARCOS, Texas — Hays County wants to improve the county's criminal justice system.
- Judge, chief of staff give presentation on the status of the Hays County Jail
- Jail plagued with overcrowding
- Some inmates have to be housed in neighboring counties
The newly elected Hays County Judge, Ruben Becerra ran on the platform of creating a more efficient criminal justice system. He said he wanted to reform the system and reduce spending.
Becerra addressed commissioners court Tuesday by handing the floor to his chief of staff, Alex Villalobos, who gave a brief presentation on the status of the Hays County Jail.
The Hays County Jail has a maximum capacity of 362 inmates. It has been plagued with overcrowding the past few years, according to Villalobos' presentation. The average number of inmates in 2018 was 553, 317 of those were housed in the county jail, and 236 were housed in neighboring county facilities.
Villalobos says since 2014, there's been a 73 percent increase in total operating costs, from $9,443,167 in fiscal year 2014, to $16,315681 in fiscal year 2018.
A jail report indicated last week's daily average was 474 inmates, with a peak at 482 on March 6. The estimated cost of outsourcing inmates this week was $51,569. The average number of outsourced inmates was 152. Hays is currently outsourcing inmates at Burnet, Caldwell, McClennon and Limestone.
RELATED: Hays County Looks to Surrounding Communities for Solutions to Jail Overcrowding
Becerra has made the jail reports a weekly agenda item to bring awareness to the issue.
Commissioner Lon Shell addressed the issue of overpopulation at Commissioners Court Tuesday morning by saying Hays County's participation in cite and release could be elevated.
Lt. Todd Riffe said the Sheriff's Office does encourage their deputies to utilize cite and release, but it's up to the deputy's discretion.
According to Villalobos' presentation, most of the arrests in Hays County from 2013 to 2017 came from possession of marijuana under two ounces.
Villalobos said some inmates with no priors or holds that had Class B misdemeanors stay in jail for a period of time. He said the county is identifying ways to address this issue to control inmate population and mitigate cost.
"I can tell you that in February, the entire county only had one cite and release, and previous to that, we're averaging five cite and release a month," Villalobos said. "Quite frankly, the cite and release issue has come forward and it really looks like from an executive police officer's standpoint, there's some administrative issues that really affect them on understanding how it works."
Villalobos said if the county keeps operating at the current business model, there won't be enough room to house inmates, or bodies to staff the jail.
The next step for the county is creating a criminal justice commission to address concerns and come up with solutions. The commission will start operating "pretty quickly," according to Villalobos.
There's also a new jail facility in the works to expand capacity, adding nearly 200 more beds.