Court opts to not add jail staff

Court opts to not add jail staff Brian Smith Wed, 03/27/2024 - 8:50 am   Jack County Jail employee Russell Walden, second from right, received a safety award from the county earlier this month for his work in providing a safe working environment at the jail where he works as a jailer. Photo/Brian Smith No action on increasing Jack County Jail staff until after the May sheriff runoff. Jack County Commissioners opted to take no action on the subject after commissioners had qualms with doing anything until the sheriff runoff is decided and the winner could voice their opinion. Commissioners considered upping the jail staff by four more to accommodate potential contracts with Palo Pinto, Collin, and Hood counties to house some of their inmates. At the Monday, Feb. 26 meeting, commissioners had asked Jack County Auditor Lisa Perry for how much the county pays for housing each inmate every day. Perry said last year the cost was $181.40. So far this year, the jail has been housing an average of 27.26 inmates a day the cost is $132.31. Jail Administrator Scott Simonton said those numbers are inaccurate and he uses Texas Jail Commission numbers based on 108 beds. Jack County Jail has 96 beds. Simonton said he would love to have four more members of the jail staff but by the time training and jail school is completed and the right person hired, it would be six months to one year before the contracts could even begin to take place. Precinct 4 Commissioner Terry Ward said he had qualms about doing anything without a new sheriff in office. He said he appreciated what Simonton had done in trying to bring more money in but it wasn’t the right time. In other news, the court took no action on cleaning up tracts of land east of the law enforcement center. Umphress said the land, which cannot be seen from the road, became a dumping ground for waste, junk, and refuge. It has iron and metal including a washer and dryer and lawn mowers. Umphress said he hoped to get some roll off dumpsters and also people in need of community service hours or jail inmates to load the items. Birdwell said the area now is “copperhead haven” and urged commissioners to wait for colder weather before doing anything. Jacksboro Economic Development Corporation Director Brenda Tarpley said work on cleaning land for the business park was to start soon and would create a view of what exactly was there. Jacksboro Mayor Craig Fenter said contacting the city for dumpsters a couple of weeks before starting, because it takes time to get dumpsters to Jacksboro.