Sunday, June 30, 2024
Hood County officially entered into an interlocal agreement with Bosque County regarding the housing of jail inmates during a regularly scheduled meeting June 21.
The agreement states that Bosque County currently has excess capacity and the ability to provide housing and care for Hood County inmates at the Bosque County Jail. In this agreement, Bosque County will provide detention services for inmates of Hood at the jail, which is owned, operated, and managed by Bosque County.
In return, Hood County will pay Bosque County a per-diem rate for detention services under the agreement in the amount of $85 per inmate per day.
According to Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds, Hood County is always looking for another location to house inmates, as the jail has maxed out its capacity.
“Right now, we're doing okay with what we have. We haven't been told to come and get them, but we feel we need to get these contracts in place, just in case,” Deeds said. "I got an email that they (Bosque County) had some room and they were wanting to bring on inmates if anybody needed to do so. This was a contract that they put together at 85 bucks a day per inmate, but it's a backup."
Precinct 1 Commissioner Kevin Andrews asked Deeds how many beds Bosque County currently has available. Deeds said the number fluctuates from day to day, but the last time Chief Deputy Steve Smith spoke with representatives from Bosque County, they “acted like they had 230 beds.” Deeds added that Bosque County is also actively issuing contracts for other counties to use the additional jail space if needed.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Nannette Samuelson asked Deeds if it would be feasible to move inmates to Bosque County who are currently housed elsewhere with a higher daily rate.
“We could do that,” Deeds said. “Johnson County's 100 bucks a day, and it’s not that much more with your drive too, so that's why I'm always telling the guys back there in the jail, ‘Let's get them out of the expensive beds and get them into the cheaper beds.’ We do that all the time. That'd be a little less — 15 bucks a day less — and we can get some moved out.”
Precinct 4 Commissioner Dave Eagle pointed out that Bosque County’s contract for $85 a day per 30 inmates would equal $2,550, but that it’s currently $71 a day to continue housing the inmates at the Hood County jail — totaling $2,130.
"The difference is $420 to send these 30 inmates out, plus transportation,” Eagle said. “I just wanted to point that out.”
Samuelson then made a motion to allow County Judge Ron Massingill to sign the interlocal agreement with Bosque County regarding the housing of jail inmates. With a second from Precinct 3 Commissioner Jack Wilson, the motion passed unanimously.
