1 week Ago By Sarah Grunau
In an attempt to address overcrowding in the Montgomery County Jail, the county will begin doling out thousands of dollars each day to relocate some prisoners. Montgomery County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved a motion that will outsource about 45 prisoners to the Waller County Jail. The move comes at a $75 daily cost for each outsourced prisoner, or $3,375 a day.
Montgomery County Sheriff Wesley Doolittle said that Montgomery County will still be responsible for transporting the inmates to and from court. Waller County will provide housing, food and basic medical needs. The agreement between the counties was reviewed and approved by the county attorney’s office and signed by Waller County officials.
“About 70 to 80 percent of inmates in our jail are pre-trial felons and we’re actively working with the judges to get people released that do not need to be there, especially those that are terminally ill or getting into a state that gets harder and more expensive for us to take care of them,” Doolittle said. The Montgomery County Jail had an inmate population of 1,263 as of Wednesday. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards, the state group that sets and oversees jail regulations, only allows the county to house about 90 percent of what its capable of housing, Doolittle said.
The county jail’s population has been running anywhere between 94 and 116 percent recently, posing a major concern for those charged with maintaining the jail’s compliance with the state. On Tuesday, Doolittle said he fears the state could consider closing the county jail if it’s not in compliance. However, counties entering a non-compliant standing with the jail commission doesn’t immediately prompt the state to close facilities — instead, the entity works with counties to come into compliance through remedial actions.
In Harris County, a persistent failure to comply with state standards prompted the commission to request that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervene earlier this year. Montgomery County commissioners on Tuesday tossed out other ideas to address overcrowding issues. Commissioner Charlie Riley asked if the inmates could instead be housed under tents.
Another asked if they could move some adult inmates into the same building as juveniles, possibly in a different wing. Under the state’s local government code on county jail facilities, a sheriff and commissioners can request the commission to authorize the use of tents to temporarily house prisoners “when a need is clearly identified.” The Montgomery County Jail is nearly 40 years old, and Doolittle said that the county needs a larger space for prisoners in the future.
In February, the jail added 64 beds to the facility in an attempt to address spacing issues. Commissioners then agreed to work with the sheriff’s office to look at the feasibility of a potential expansion. Doolittle also said that the sheriff’s office is actively working with U.
S Immigration and Customs Enforcement to remove illegal immigrants from the jail. “I think at one point we were up to about 115 [immigrants], and I think they’ve picked up about 75 of them, if I’m not mistaken,” Doolittle said. “I think we have about 50 [immigrants] right now.
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