Potter County looks for solutions to jail overcrowding

At Monday’s Potter County Commissioner's Court meeting, jail overcrowding was addressed, with Potter County Sheriff Brian Thomas speaking about workable solutions to alleviate overcrowding with available options.

“We have been keeping the county updated on our jail numbers, and today we are at 96%. We are full,” Thomas said. “People think that because we have 599 beds, we only have 576 beds used but are full at 570. Because of inmate classification, we cannot put another inmate in there. Our jail is still a viable option, but the problem is that we have too many violent crimes. A couple of months ago, we had 57 people sitting in jail for homicide, and it is not like we can PR (personal recognizance) bond these criminals. Most of those people are not worthy of release.”

Thomas said that a jail assessment was done to show the issues, and that was why it was brought before the commissioner's court.

“It's been a constant topic before the court; what is the answer besides adding on there is really not another option,” he said. “There is not a place between here and Lubbock that I can send an inmate to house for me, because everybody is full. In 2022, Lubbock spent over $600,000 just in transporting inmates to other facilities.”

A previous proposal to add 84 beds to the jail was projected to cost $16 million.

“We designed our facility so that it could be attached to our east side, but you are talking about a lot of money,” Thomas said. "The problem with that is, that if you add 84 beds, you have to add employees to that because you have to have an officer for every 48 inmates.”

According to Thomas, at 80%, jail standards dictate that you must start thinking about a new jail, and at 85%, a facility could be shut down.

“Right now, there is not a place to put them,“ he said. “We constantly stay in touch with the DA’s and county attorney’s offices to come out and do all they can. But when you get felons that have committed murder, do you want that guy living next door to you to be let back out? We have some bad people, and if we just let them out, they will keep on doing the same thing.”

While another 100 beds would alleviate some of the crowding, Thomas says the number of violent crimes in the county will still be an issue that continues to fill the jails. Violent crime in Potter County is among the highest in the state and twice the state average, according to Thomas.

“We have a violent county, and most of those felonies and violent crimes are happening in Potter County,” Thomas said. “We must look at expansion within the next two years; we cannot continue to kick this problem down the road. Nobody wants to build a jail; nobody wants that expense. It is costly to build a new jail. It is a big hit for Potter County and for its citizens, and it is not something I want to do. It is something we need to do.”

Scott Giles, Chief Deputy at the Potter County Sheriff’s Office, spoke about the jail assessment brought before the court, which examines the facility's current and future needs.

“It's an effort to try to predict the future, which can be very difficult, but it's based on data that the commission utilized to advise the county on what to expect in the near- and long-term future,” Giles said. “The jail commission expects at least under 90% to give an amount of space to classify inmates based on their risk level correctly - over 90% of you really are too full and have been here before. According to this analysis, we are continuing to be there."

Giles explained that the analysis recommends adding bed space to the current jail. The question before them is how many more beds are needed. With the previous estimate, he expects that with inflation, adding about 100 beds would be higher and continue to cost more the longer it is put off.

“We need to be informed by the data to make prudent and informed decisions,” Giles said. “Potter County’s situation is unique compared to other counties nearby and others across the state. We are now back to providing numbers of inmates when we had to send inmates to other facilities. This has been an issue for the last six to eight years.”

According to Giles, when a jail exceeds its capacity, jail standards dictate that a short- and long-term plan must be made.

“A short-term plan is to take those inmates and send them to another jail, but there are not many county jails that have so much excess bed space that they are contracting with other counties,” Giles said. "We may be forced to travel great distances transporting inmates to find those beds. The long-term responsibility for the county is to build a jail large enough for the required inmates.”

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Potter County Commissioners Court look at jail overcrowding