Saturday, September 7, 2024
The Hood County Commissioners Court recently approved a $400,000 transfer from Fund 55 to address the escalating costs of housing out-of-county inmates.
During a regularly scheduled meeting July 9, Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds explained that funds had depleted this past fiscal year, leaving approximately $27,500 left in the current line item to pay bills.
“We've had some pretty high months with March at $154,725, April at $167,920, and May was $186,445,” Deeds said. “Just estimating it off of that, we figured (we would need an additional) $800,000 to $850,000 (to cover the costs).”
Precinct 2 Commissioner Nannette Samuelson said she had calculated the math based on the current inmate numbers and associated costs. She explained that by multiplying the number of inmates by the daily rates and by projecting for the 90 days left in the fiscal year, she approximated the total number of funds needed to be around $384,000. She emphasized that this figure did not include potential savings from utilizing the lower rates in Bosque County.
Based on her calculations, Samuelson recommended allocating $400,000 for out-of-county inmate costs to provide a financial “buffer,” to ensure enough funds could cover any unforeseen expenses.
“I'm at your mercy to do it,” Deeds said. “We have to pay the bills and we have to continue processing inmates and keeping inmates.”
In the future, Samuelson said she hopes to alleviate pressure on the district attorney’s office and the district judge by expediting cases in order to limit the number of inmates who have been incarcerated for long periods of time.
“There’s a lot of unknowns,” Deeds said. “You hope for the best, but you’ve got to plan for the worst.”
Hood County Judge Ron Massingill asked Deeds whether he believed an $800,000 allocation would be necessary to cover out-of-county inmate expenses through the remainder of the fiscal year. Deeds confirmed and clarified that his calculations were derived from the financial trends of recent months.
“That’s doubling the budget,” Samuelson said.
“It's all county money,” Massingill said. “I mean, in case we have to have it, it's going to be there.”
Samuelson added that after calculating expenses going all the way back to March, her highest estimate totaled $455,000. Based on the county’s “run rate,” Samuelson made a motion to allocate $400,000 from Fund 55 to cover the out-of-county inmate costs.
“That’s considering a $77.72 average daily rate for 55 inmates is basically how that worked out,” she explained.
Following a second from Precinct 4 Commissioner Dave Eagle, the motion passed 3:2, with Massingill and Precinct 3 Commissioner Jack Wilson voting “No.”
“If you need any more, Sheriff, you're just going to have to come back,” Massingill added.
