County Jail Bleeding Money
By Gregg Wendorf
Advance News Journal
Hidalgo County needs more jail beds because the way it now stands, close to 500 inmates this week are housed in other jails outside the county, for which local taxpayers pay a pretty penny.
Question is, when the current jail was being designed and built in the very early 2000s, who miscounted the future demand, and why haven’t any additions been added to the current jail, given the fact that it was designed and built for future expansion?
Different people will have different answers, including Sheriff Eddie Guerra and former Hidalgo County Judge Eloy Pulido, not to mention some current and former county powerbrokers.
This week, The Advance spoke to Sheriff Guerra about the “jail problem” if you will, which is only going to get worse over time as the cost of construction continues to escalate.
According to Guerra, who first became county sheriff in 2014, it would have made more sense 20-some years ago to go ahead and built a 2,000-bed facility, as opposed to 1,200 beds, and then rent the empty beds to the U.S. Marshal’s service until the county could fill them up.
“I think with those rentals, the county could have paid off the entire (jail complex) project in 10 years.”
The dollars needed to remedy the situation are staggering. Please read on:
The Advance News Journal (ANJ): So, the argument at the time 20-some years ago was 1,200 beds vs. 2,000 beds, and the county went with the 1,200 number. So was it filled to capacity right off the bat? Circa 2003?
Sheriff Guerra: “When they moved in, they filled it (with prisoners), and when they brought the inmates over, they still had to leave some there because there weren’t enough beds.” (There, being another jail facility south of Canton on Closner.)
ANJ: When you came in as sheriff in 2014, how many inmates were you outsourcing because the county jail didn’t have enough beds?
Sheriff Guerra: “It was about 280, I believe. I can’t remember the exact number.”
ANJ: And 10 years later, where do you stand?
Sheriff Guerra: “Our out-of-county number this week is 449. But you have to remember, back in 2018, 2019, I had no beds at all.”
ANJ: Meaning, you had no other counties with which to contract? No place to send inmates?
Sheriff Guerra: “Zero beds available. And when I looked for more beds, I couldn’t find any. Finally, we were able to work with Starr County, Cameron County, and then Cameron County did not have enough detention personnel to run the inmates, so they brought them all back. They brought them (the inmates) all back, but I was then able to go to Jim Hogg County.”
ANJ: But if a 2,000-bed jail had been built 20 years ago, you’d have enough beds?
Sheriff Guerra: “Correct.”
ANJ: To send county inmates to other jails, how much is that costing taxpayers per inmate?
Sheriff Guerra: “Well, it’s about $64 per day (per inmate). And then I have a great deal with Jim Hogg (county), but I have to transport (prisoners there). With Jim Hogg, they don’t have the detention personnel to transport, so I have to transport daily.”
ANJ: So if you multiply the 449 inmates you have outsourced to other jails now, multiplied by $64 per day, that equals $12,902 per day that local taxpayers are paying to house prisoners?
Sheriff Guerra: “Yes. Per day. Now multiply that by 365 days per year.”
ANJ: Multiplied by 365 days, that equals almost $10.5 million per year.
Sheriff Guerra: “It’s a lot of money.”
ANJ: What would it take to expand the current facility if the county had the money?
Sheriff Guerra: “We have the infrastructure to add on to the jail because it was built (for expansion). However, the current construction cost is approximately $260,000 per bed.”
ANJ: So to give you another, say, 1,000 beds, you’re talking how much?
Sheriff Guerra: “About $265 million.”
ANJ: That’s more than the price of the new county courthouse.
Sheriff Guerra: “I would actually like to build another 1,232-bed jail.”
ANJ:That’s $320 million at $260,000 per bed to add another 1,232 beds.
Sheriff Guerra: “So I was arguing to the Commissioner’s Court when I first came in here to build me a jail (additional beds). The sooner we start, the sooner we’d stop the bleeding. And they said, ‘No, let’s build the courthouse first.’”
ANJ:That’s $320 million at $260,000 per bed.
Sheriff Guerra: “It would have been substantially less 10 years ago. The sooner we start, the sooner we’d stop the bleeding. And they said, ‘No, let’s build the courthouse first,’ and all I can say is that I wasn’t happy about it. I just wanted to stop the bleeding (paying to farm inmates out to other jails).”
ANJ: Given the high cost of paying other jails to house county inmates, do you think that plays a factor into judges not wanting to send, say, repeat DWI offenders to county jail?
Sheriff Guerra: “What I’m saying is, if you get caught, and it’s your first DWI, hey, you made a mistake. You didn’t kill anybody. You get your punishment. But you’re not going to spend any days in jail.
“Your second DWI, well, apparently you didn’t learn your lesson the first time, right? Which is what some judges are going to think. So maybe I should put you in the county jail for 60 days. Maybe that’ll help (sober you up, figuratively speaking).
“Well, they don’t have that option because I’ve got no beds. I need those beds. I need those beds for the more of the violent (offenders).
“Now granted, there are some county court judges that’ll call me and say, ‘Sheriff, I’m sorry, but this guy needs to be in jail. I know he’s not going to learn his lesson. I’m going to put him in your jail for X number of days.’ Once the judge gives me an order, I (have to comply).”
ANJ: But it all adds up.
Sheriff Guerra: “It’s going to cost me this much money because I’ve got to rent that bed. And then, to top it off, I currently have 180 inmates sentenced to state jails; 180 today. Out of those, 164 are what we call (ready for immediate pickup). We’ve already notified the state jails that they are ready for pick up, and the state jails are saying, ‘We’ve got no beds.’”
ANJ: So then what happens?
Sheriff Guerra: “So they’re still sitting in my jail, and the citizens are still paying that cost because the state is telling me, it’s got no beds. After 45 days, I can then bill the state ofTexas.
“And that number’s been going up and up and up. Right now, currently, I have three that are over 45 days but they won’t take them because they’ve got some type of communicable disease. I think it’s chicken pox. I’ve got three under quarantine.”
ANJ: Without getting political, when the governor wants to start arresting undocumented immigrants on this side of the border for trespass, where are you going to put them?
Sheriff Guerra: “Think about it. Is that a violent inmate? No. So I’ve got no room for them. And then for my violent inmates, the state is saying it’s got no room for them. So where are we going to put them?”
ANJ: Last but not least, when the new county courthouse opens, will that help you in any way?
Sheriff Guerra: “No, they’re not going to help me at all. Well, okay, let me take it back. As far as the overpopulation, nothing, because those cells are not overnight cells.
“But now I’ll be able to breathe easier because all the security features in that new courthouse are state of the art. Now I won’t have an inmate (accused of murder, for example) walking down the hallway (past the victim’s family), thinking about the security nightmare I’ve got.”
Final Note: By way of comparison, according to former Hidalgo County Judge Eloy Pulido, who left office in January 2003, the cost for the whole enchilada – the 1,200-bed jail, the shooting range, a separate building that houses offices, a law enforcement center, and a training facility – came to approximately $48 million when constructed. The facility officially opened approximately six months after Pulido left office.