Jim Wells County Eyes New Jail or Expansion to End Overcrowding

Jim Wells County is spending up to $800,000 this year to house inmates at outside facilities because its 100-year-old jail, maxed out at 88 beds, cannot hold the volume it books. Sheriff Joseph "Guy" Baker's assessment is direct: "The issue is that we need to build a larger jail."

Commissioners gathered in court on Friday, March 27, to weigh long-term remedies. The two options before the county are a $15 million-to-$20 million expansion of the existing facility or an entirely new jail starting at $30 million, double the expansion estimate. No final decision or price tag has been set. Before construction moves forward, the county plans to contract with Southwest Architects to conduct a formal analysis of both paths, paid for through the county's general fund.

Baker laid out the gap in plain numbers: "We need a 144-bed facility. Now right now we have an 88-bed facility. That's maximum capacity." That 56-bed deficit has forced the county to ship inmates to facilities elsewhere for years. "We're looking at spending anywhere from 500 to 800,000 this year in housing inmates outside of our jail," Baker said, making the case that a large upfront construction cost would eventually stop that recurring drain.

A jail needs analysis by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards recently confirmed the county's need for expansion, according to Baker. He identified overcrowding as the source of a compounding operational problem. "Obviously everybody knows we're having problems with overcrowding at the jail. That is the root cause of the transport cause they keep — that keeps being brought up," he said.

The strain is only likely to grow. Senate Bill 9, recently passed, limits who qualifies for release on a low-cost or cashless bond. Baker supports the legislation but is clear-eyed about what it means for county lockups: "All that tied together is just going to put more strain on not only our jail, but all jails across the state of Texas."

Precinct 1 Commissioner George Aguilar agrees the jail needs more space but said the county's ledger already has competing claims. "We do really need to upgrade roads. And then when you toss in the new facility, possibly expanding the jail, you know everything starts getting tight," he said. The general fund paying for the Southwest Architects analysis is the same pool the county draws on for infrastructure and other core services.

Annabelle Garcia, a Jim Wells County resident for 40 years, was brief when asked for her reaction: "It's about time." She backed her position on both practical and humanitarian grounds. "Well, as far as I'm concerned is we need to have good — I mean — even though they're in there for a reason they're still human beings. And we need to have them in a safe place," Garcia said. "The community's growing so there's more population, so it makes sense to me. I don't know about the rest of the people, but as far as I'm concerned — yes, we need that."

Baker described the forthcoming architectural review as the critical step toward getting commissioners to a concrete decision. "I think this analysis is going to be important for the commissioners so they can see the hard numbers as to what's best. Whether we add on, or build a new facility," he said. Until that contract is signed and the study delivered, Jim Wells County will keep paying other counties to hold its inmates at a cost that could reach $800,000 before the year is out.