Friday, April 26, 2024
Coryell County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Mike Gonzales updated the Gatesville Lions Club on law enforcement issues and on challenges related to the Coryell County Jail.
After serving in the military, Gonzales worked as a patrol sergeant before joining the sheriff's office.
Gonzales said he is accustomed to public speaking now, but that wasn't always the case.
"When I was a rookie officer, I walked into Phil Ziegler's court," Gonzales recalled. "The senior officer said the case was cut and dry, and I'd be off the stand in two minutes. After the defense attorney got through with me, I'd be on the stand for 45 minutes. It was the most nervous I'd been in my life. I told the senior officer that the defense attorney wanted to talk to him. He asked what I said, and I told him I didn't remember."
Gonzales said the sheriff's office has a patrol unit, criminal investigation department, canine division, SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team and narcotics unit.
"The canine unit is near and dear to my heart," he said.
Drug activity in the area keeps law enforcement officers busy, Gonzales said.
"We have a large narcotics problem in Coryell County," he said. "We go after that hot and heavy when it comes to enforcement."
Asked whether it's drug manufacturing or trafficking that is the biggest problem, Gonzales said manufacturing is not the big issue.
"We rarely see a meth lab these days," he said. "Drugs are so cheap to bring in from Mexico, so that's the source."
Gonzales said when he was promoted to chief deputy, the sheriff told him the jail was his responsibility.
"I said, 'So what do I do?'" Gonzales said.
He attended a jailer training course to get some background, and then focused on the issues facing the jail.
"We've been out of compliance with the state when it comes to jail population requirements for four years, off and on," Gonzales said. "We were in a contract with nine counties to house inmates. We've struggled to find a place for all of them and the jail standards (commission) wasn't happy with us, to say the least."
The sheriff's office is required to transport inmates to other counties, and to state jail facilities after an inmate is sentenced. It can be a taxing assignment keeping everyone moving where they need to be.
Offering an example of the difficulties involved in housing inmates elsewhere, he said one county may say they have room for 20 inmates, but then ask for a record book on inmate behavior. Based on that, they may refuse to take 10 of those inmates. Then, they ask for the medical book, and by the time all those issues are sorted out, Coryell County might only be able to send two of the 20 inmates elsewhere.
Also, defense attorneys don't want to travel out of the area to see an inmate client, so the sheriff's office has to bring them back for legal consultation. There are also out of state depositions, in some cases.
"That's the fight we've been having," Gonzales said. He added that it is an eight-hour drive to one of the counties that Coryell County has an inmate housing contract with.
A new contract with Johnson County - only an hour and a half away - has relieved some of the burden, he said.
"With that contract Johnson County will take 48 inmates at once," Gonzales said.
Asked if Johnson County has the same strict limitations on which inmates they will house, Sheriff Scott Williams said, "We went into pretty stringent negotiations with them."
Coryell County has to pay $100 per day per inmate, so that adds up to an accumulated annual cost of $1.75 million to Coryell County taxpayers. In addition to that, some other inmates are still housed in other areas.
Relief is on the way with an upcoming jail addition, but it will only be a stopgap measure, Gonzales said.
"We will have a 47-bed addition connected to the jail," he said. "They're telling me getting it built in 8-10 months is the goal. We're probably looking at a year. It's a Band-aid - just 47 beds.
"There's nobody in our jail we can just kick out on the street," he said. "The only people in jail are murderers, rapists and violent offenders. There aren't people in there for (driving while intoxicated) or non-violent crimes."
Gonzales said a consultant visited Coryell County and said a new jail was needed here 20 years ago.
"We need updates," he said. "We're not in this century right now with what we have going on."
Gonzales said the county has been able to tap into grant funds for some help.
"With all the school shootings, there has been a demand for ballistic shields, and we got a grant for $152,000 for those. We also were able to upgrade all our service pistols. Some had been with them so long nobody could tell me how long we'd had them."
Gonzales said switching to 9mm guns helped alleviate an ammunition shortage for the department.
"We had been waiting (for some types of ammunition) for over a year," he said. "When we switched over, we were able to get the ammo within weeks.
"We have also gotten ballistic vests. With some bulletproof vests, a knife will cut through them like butter. These vests are not just bulletproof but also stab proof."
Gonzales said the types of crime and the level of violence has escalated over the years.
"The type of mischief people got into when y'all were younger when even blink an eye (of law enforcement officers) today," he said.
One Lions Club member said that with the amount of money being spent to house inmates outside the county, it would be cheaper to build a new jail, and asked what community members could do to change that.
"Two things," Gonzales said. "Educate yourself and vote."
