Potter County approves first responder training with AC, jail contracts

On Monday, July 22, the Potter County Commissioners’ Court made agreements with Amarillo College to provide mental health training for first responders and approved inmate housing contracts with other Texas counties to reduce continual overcrowding in the Potter County Detention Center.

In 2022, the Potter County Commissioners' Court approved the funding for State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds for a mental health project, which spurred this agreement with Amarillo College.

“With Amarillo College being certified for this type of training, so we went with them to do this,” Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner said. “It is very important for the county because when these officers stop someone with a mental illness, they need to know how to handle the situation. It is really good to know that they will get the training that they need to know how to approach these people and deal with them. I think it's a really good deal.”

Tanner said that, as a judge who has repeatedly stressed the need for better mental health training and facilities, this just gives another tool to deal with an underserved community.

“It’s really important to me, because I do all the mental health hearings for the entire Panhandle,” Tanner said. “So, for them to come forward and say we’re going to do some training with officers, it is a gift. It is a gift from above. This is a really good thing that we will take advantage of.”

Another issue plaguing the county is the level of overcrowding in its county jail. The county has sought partnerships with other counties to alleviate overcrowding. A recent proposal to Deaf Smith County was rejected by its commissioners because they wanted a higher rate per prisoner. Potter County initially offered $60 per day, but a new agreement was signed to raise that amount to $75 per day.

Also approved at the meeting were inmate housing contracts with Deaf Smith County, Scurry County, and Garza County for additional beds. Deputy Chief Scott Giles of the Potter County Sheriff’s Office spoke about the agreements and the need for more beds.

“Our jail is a bit overcrowded. We have been seeing a steady increased jail population over the past 12 months. We are currently overcrowded,” he said. “As soon as they sign those contracts, we will start the process of taking advantage of those beds. We plan to send about 20 to 30 inmates to these outside counties right now. We typically contract five to 10 beds per jail per county, but we probably need to take advantage of 20 to 30 beds for now. Hopefully, the population will not continue to rise; otherwise, we will need more beds than contracted.”

The contracts with Scurry and Garza County will pay about $60 to $65 per bed used per day for inmates, with the new agreed-upon amount to Deaf Smith County paying $75. One issue creating overcrowding is the number of felony inmates in the Potter County jail, which is over 80%.

While Deaf Smith County was more costly than the other counties, Giles said that the request was not unreasonable, especially when it costs Potter County over $70 to house its own inmates. He also cited the proximity to Amarillo as causing fewer issues and the costs for transporting prisoners back and forth to court as factors.

Giles said that this short-term solution is cheaper in the near future than building on to the current jail. He and Sheriff Brian Thomas have anticipated that, at some point, the county will have to address this issue by expanding the jail capacity. Thomas has previously said that the sheriff’s department is in talks with the county about the needed expansion to create about 80 more beds.

“This is a problem statewide; we are not the only ones experiencing it,” Giles said. "In fact, we were told that as we have been looking for county jails to rent beds from, there is actually a lot of competition for this bed space. So, we are hopeful we can get a hold of some of those beds and reduce our jail population.”

Giles said that both Randall County and Lubbock County are being forced to build onto their jails due to rising jail populations. He also said that if the Potter County Jail was expanded, there would be little issue with having too much space and the level of overcrowding statewide.

“Anytime you take a prisoner outside of a facility, there is a risk involved plus more indirect costs from transportation and manpower,” he said. “The transportation costs are quite substantial.”

In another action, the commissioners heard complaints about wastewater discharge from the Love's Travel Stop located off Interstate 40 in East Amarillo. Love's had no representatives and was not available at the meeting, where it was alleged that the travel stop was releasing wastewater onto private property and Randall County properties and had been reported to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality agency.

A private landowner showed evidence of wastewater being discharged onto his property to the court over the last six months, with discharging well above permitted levels. Commissioner John Coffee said that calls were made for Love's Travel Stop to come together with the affected parties to come back to an agreement, but it never materialized. He also said that Randall County had denied Love’s request to discharge into the county.

“If we allow them to continue with this discharge, we are facilitating their violation of an agreement with Randall County," Coffee said. "I am disappointed that no effort was made to come back with a resolution that everyone can live with. I am of the opinion that they need to keep the effluent on their own property.”

Coffee recommended that the county give Love’s a 30-day notice that they cannot release their wastewater onto the county right of way, which the commissioner's court unanimously approved.

“No agreement ever happened to resolve the wastewater situation, so I think the best option is to deny them access to release their effluent,” Coffee said. “They have options to make the needed improvements to resolve this situation, such as using the wastewater in their sprinkler system. At this point, this is the best course of action.”

After 30 days, if Love's Travel Stop is still releasing wastewater into areas that it is not agreed to, the company could face legal action.

“I do not want anything to happen to Love's; I think they are a great business and great for the community,” he said. “I think if Love’s had come to the table with all parties involved, this could have been resolved. At this point, the best option for the county is to opt out of our agreement with Love’s."

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Potter County approves first responder training with AC, jail contracts