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By STERRY BUTCHER
PRESIDIO COUNTY – Commissioners will convene in a special meeting at 6pm Tuesday in Marfa to discuss the immediate needs of the county jail.
“We’ll talk about the formation of a jail committee to coordinate repairs and try to identify someone to do jail administration,” County Judge Jerry Agan said this week.
The facility was “depopulated” of its inmates last Saturday, June 13. Emerald Correctional Management had pulled out of its contract to run the jail and the county has no money built into the budget for any jail operation. The facility, which holds about 100 inmates, was temporarily closed for 60 days in order to make repairs, look for new funding resources and re-establish a population of federal inmates who are housed there for a daily fee.
On Monday, the jail was pretty quiet and Sheriff Danny Dominguez sat in his office doing computer work. A big part of his job used to be running the jail. This changed when Emerald took over jail management for five months of 2009. It’s changed again now, with no one at all in the holding cells, the kitchen or the exercise yard.
“The federal inmates went to facilities in Pecos, Odessa, all over,” Dominguez said.
Five Presidio County inmates who were in the midst of serving time for violations like non-payment of back child support were sent to the Hudspeth County jail.
New arrests in Presidio County who must see jail time will be sent to the Brewster County jail for the time being.
The county must pay Hudspeth and Brewster counties in the arrangement, though the neither sheriff, the county judge nor the county treasurer immediately knew how much the daily rate would be.
Federal authorities had retrieved the last of their inmates by early morning June 12. By noon the next day, the Presidio County inmates had also been removed and the jail was emptied. Dominguez has been sheriff for 12 years and several of the jail staffers have been with him for that entire period. When Emerald left, about a dozen people lost their jobs.
“It was really emotional Saturday when we closed the doors,” Dominguez said. “Some of the cooks and others had been there the whole time. Hopefully, when the jail comes back up, they can find money in the budget to pay the employees. For $8.50 an hour, it’s a hard job.”
Later that afternoon, Dominguez unlocked the jail so Commissioner Danny Watts, a contractor with building experience, could do a walk-through and inventory the repair needs. Before the jail is re-opened, it must meet an inspection by the jail standards commission.
“He identified numerous things that need to be repaired,” said Judge Agan. “I’m astounded at the things that need to be done at the jail.”
Much of what needs to be done is standard maintenance: replacing old hot water heaters, fixing a boiler, replacing mattresses and bed sheets. Commissioners hoped to do some of the repairs in-house, though the sheriff said such fixes won’t last in every case.
“There is some minor stuff,” said Dominguez, “but some of it is old and can be fixed by patching it up. Once it gives out, they’ll need to fix it outright.”
Why, though, had these routine maintenance issues not already been addressed by the sheriff?
“With no money,” he replied, “how can I fix it?”
Money, or the lack of it, is the jail’s central issue. The county has applied for an emergency $100,000 grant that would hopefully allow the jail to operate at some level until the 2010 budget is crafted and the fiscal year begins in October.
“We doing fine tuning on the grant and it’s actively under review as of today,” Agan said Tuesday.
Magistration is handled differently now, in order to save money. When law enforcement makes an arrest, the case is magistrated as soon as possible by the county judge or the justices of the peace. Sometimes that means meeting the officers and the arrestee after hours. Sometimes, said Agan, law enforcement brings the person to the wherever the judge happens to be.
“It’s not economical to arrest them, put them in the Brewster County jail to hold them all night, and then bond them the next day,” said the judge. “We set a bond before they leave the county.”
In cases in which the person is not a threat to the public and a personal recognizance bond is appropriate, the trip to Brewster County can be avoided with immediate magistration.
After repairs are made to the jail and the facility has passed inspection, Agan and Dominguez plan to be in contact with the Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Marshals about housing federal inmates at the jail again. Agan has made an initial contact.
“I’ve talked to the feds and assured them that we will be on line again,” said the judge.
It’s too early to know when the jail will be re-opened or how many prisoners it will house, he added.
Dominguez hopes for a timely resolution. He’s got a lot of concern for the employees who lost their jobs.
“I want it to open sooner than later,” he said. “Those employees need to support their families.” |
