Monday, May 20, 2024
While Coryell County continues to scramble to meet state mandates related to jail overcrowding, no additional actions were taken against the county by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.
Coryell County Judge Roger Miller and Sheriff Scott Williams both appeared before the commission earlier this month to update officials on the steps being taken to resolve local jail overcrowding issues.
"Overall, I think it was a good meeting," Miller said. "A win was that the jail commission did not escalate actions they had previously taken. The focus was on continued enforcement of remedial orders.
One negative was that the executive director of the commission, Brandon Wood, appears to be losing patience with the amount of time it is taking for the county to resolve the concerns, Miller and Williams said.
"Mr. Wood seemed much less receptive (to county input) than he did at the November meeting," Miller said.
Coryell County is planning to expand the current jail, with groundbreaking scheduled for later this spring. The jail's capacity could potentially be increased by early 2024.
"They have received plans for the jail expansion, and still have concerns regarding medium security (inmates), which is the biggest concern for overcrowding," Miller said.
Sheriff Williams said other concerns voiced by the commission have already been resolved.
"The other issues they brought up were rectified 18 months or two years ago," he said. "Mr. Wood seems to be at the end of his rope, but the other committee members seemed to be receptive to what we're doing. We've tried everything in the world to pacify him."
The next meeting in which Williams and Miller are scheduled to appear before the commission will be in May.
"It's an eye-opening experience with some of the concerns people bring up statewide," Miller said.
One source of relief that the county is working to finalize is an agreement to house some of the county's jail inmates in Johnson County to reduce overcrowding.
"They sent us a template and their sheriff seems to think they can handle up to 30 of our inmates," Williams said. "We're at the mercy of their court and trying to cater to their needs. Their going rate is $120 a day (per inmate). There is a premium on feeding them and caring for them."
Commissioner Kyle Matthews said it was important to reach an arrangement with Johnson County. "I don't want to lose the opportunity," he said.
"Oh absolutely," Williams said. "We're working on a deal right now for at least 30 beds for males with the possibility of additional space for females. There's possibly an additional deal to house our inmates awaiting transfer to a (Texas Department of Criminal Justice state prison) facility.
"Johnson County would be a spectacular drive compared to the distances we're having to go right now."
Gatesville is about an hour and a half from Cleburne, where the Johnson County Jail is located.
