Burnet Co. reserves cells for Bell Co. inmates

A shortage of county jail bed space in Belton has forced Bell County to revise its inmate housing agreement with Burnet County — a move that will guarantee millions of dollars in revenue for the Burnet County Jail.

Under a revised agreement approved last Monday by Bell County commissioners and last Tuesday by Burnet County commissioners, Bell County will pay Burnet County more than $3.2 million for inmate housing during the next 12 months.

In exchange, Burnet County will set aside 160 of the 525 beds in the Burnet County Jail for Bell County’s exclusive use, locked in at the current rate of $55 per inmate per day. Bell County must pay for the full 160 beds per day whether they are occupied by their inmates or not and Burnet County cannot use those beds to house any other prisoners.

“We’re starting to see scenarios where some of these counties (that must contract with others to house jail inmates) want to control their destiny a little more on where their inmates go,” Burnet County Judge James Oakley said. “Instead of shopping around and seeing who has the space, they are doing some guaranteed contracts where they will pay a guaranteed amount in exchange for a certain number of beds.

“It’s a great deal for us because they are guaranteeing that head count whether they use it or not. It’s not free board; it’s a guaranteed bed capacity. We hold those beds for them, whether they use them or not.”

On Oct. 1, the Burnet County Jail contract rate goes up from $55 per day per inmate to $62 per day per inmate. However, Bell County will be able to pay the lower amount because they will have contractually locked in the rate for a year’s time.

Overcrowding at the Bell County Jail — which has seen a 23 percent increase in its jail census since 2008 — has Bell County looking to issue up to $138 million in bonds for a long-overdue jail facility expansion, but even if the bonds are issued this year, it could be several years before construction on a new jail addition is completed.

As of last week, there were more than 1,100 Bell County inmates, of which about 990 were being detained in Belton, while the rest were being housed in other counties, including Burnet County. Other counties which Bell County uses to house “transfer” inmates include Mills, Milam, McLennan, Limestone and Comal.

In other action, commissioners also approved applying for Indigent Defense Improvement grant funding from the Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC) to establish a multi-county regional public defender’s office in fiscal year 2022 that would be called the North Hill Country Public Defender’s office.

It would be run by Burnet County chief public defender Michelle Moore. Other participating counties would include Blanco, San Saba and Llano counties — the other three counties partner in the 33rd and 424th Judicial Districts with Burnet County.

Burnet County had already approved seeking a similar grant last year, but were unable to get an application in to the state in time for fiscal year 2021 funding. If approved, the grant would pay 50 percent of Burnet County’s public defender costs “forever, for as long as the money lasts, which is for as long as they can foresee getting the money,” Moore said.

“It is a huge cost savings for Burnet County,” she said.

“The other counties that would come on board, the state would also pay a percentage of their costs and they would pay the remainder of their own costs,” Auditor Karin Smith added.

For fiscal year 2021, Burnet County had budgeted $533,872 for expenses for the public defender’s office, which included $367,028 for wages and salaries, $130,550 for benefits, $2,500 for supplies and $33,789 for office rent, utilities and other charges. The office includes a chief public defender, two assistants, clerical staff and an investigator.

Commissioners also voted to add Scott Green as a reserve deputy for Precinct 3 Constable Chip Leake. Green, who is currently employed as the investigator for the public defender’s office, would not be paid for his reserve deputy constable work and would be required to supply his own bond.

Leake said there is a need to have an additional deputy constable to help carry out the duties of the office and Green would be able to assist the other precincts as well. Also, with Green being commissioned to legally carry a weapon as a licensed law enforcement officer, it would help secure the public defender’s office, which had been, up to this point, an unsecured location.