Sheriff gets more jailers, but says that's not enough
From Chron.com
Quote:
Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved additional workers for the short-staffed county jail, which continues to cover shifts with millions of dollars in overtime.
Sixty part-time jailers will be hired, 120 part-timers will become full-time and 14 workers will be promoted to a higher rank. A similar hiring boost was approved in June, but Sheriff Adrian Garcia said neither move is sufficient to significantly cut overtime pay, which is projected to cost $18 million this fiscal year.
Tuesday's hires will do nothing, however, to fix the problems for which Garcia's department was cited by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards on Monday.
In a surprise inspection early Monday, the commission said holding cells for prisoners being transported to court were severely overcrowded and that too few guards were being used to supervise the inmates. The holding cells are beneath court facilities at 1201 Franklin and an adjacent building at 1301 Franklin. Both facilities are connected by tunnels to the county jail.
Many inmates taken to court go at the request of their attorneys and never go before a judge. Commission Executive Director Adan Munoz said that practice must stop.
County Judge Ed Emmett agreed.
"You don't have to take more people to the holding cells than the holding cells hold," Emmett said. "That shouldn't happen regardless of what else is going on in the jail."
Commissioner Steve Radack said the shortage of transport staff was discussed last month at a meeting of the county's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.
"The problem was obvious, and a solution needed to take place," Radack said. "It meant letting the courts know, 'Hey, we're at capacity.'?"
Garcia said he cannot tell judges how to run their courts. He has called a meeting for today with judges, the district attorney's office and others to discuss solutions.
"It is a system-wide issue," Garcia said. "It's not a simple fix."
Emmett asked Garcia whether his office had invited the inspection in hopes of bolstering his case for more staff.
Garcia denied it, as did Munoz.
A quarterly commission meeting is coming up next month, Munoz said, and he wanted to have up-to-date information on the Harris County Jail.
In addition to eliminating the transport of inmates solely for attorney visits, Munoz said, inmates should be moved in smaller groups to avoid overcrowding the holding cells. Those changes alone, however, are not enough.
"Reducing the number of inmates in the tunnel and court system at any one time would possibly reduce, but not eliminate, the need for additional staff," Munoz wrote in a letter, dated Tuesday, to Emmett and Garcia.
