By Gloria Roemer
The current Chambers County jail has been a source of discussion among county leadership for at least the last eight years. Plans were discussed as early as 2014 to not only expand the jail but build a new facility as the current facility was built in 1982 and is no longer able to meet the needs of a growing jail population. The structure of the facility is aging. Maintenance issues are expensive. Past sheriffs “patched” walls, pipes, wiring, etc., to hold off on the prospect of building a new facility.
Sheriff Brian Hawthorne is passionate about building a new jail facility. “We have asked the Texas Jail Commission for a variance to stay in compliance,” explained Hawthorne. “The variance is time sensitive. We must show the commission that we are doing our best to be proactive in staying in compliance, but we must face the fact that to stay in compliance, we need a new facility. This 40-year-old facility can no longer do the job. The commission is working with us, but time may not be on our side.”
Overcrowding is a huge safety and sanitation issue for the inmates and the jailers. “This jail was built to house 148 inmates,” said Hawthorne. “The operational maximum capacity is 126 inmates. A jail is considered “full” at 85% of capacity to provide for separation of disruptive or mentally ill offenders, separation of different custody levels, as well as provide alternate housing due to maintenance issues that are frequent”.
Hawthorne stated that one of the biggest expenses of the jail is for medical care. “So many inmates come to us on drugs and in need of medical care,” added Hawthorne. “Currently, when an inmate gets sick, we must transport them to medical facilities outside of our county. Hopefully, we can work with the hospital district in Anahuac to provide medical care that is affordable. We can keep the food costs down though. Jail food is adequate.”
“CCSO jail bookings so far in 2022 is some of the highest daily jail population averages the County has ever experienced,” said Hawthorne. “If the current trend holds 2022 will be the highest volume year ever. Unfortunately, female inmate population has been more than two times maximum capacity and four times operational capacity.”
Currently, the County must provide a temporary women’s dormitory for female inmates. HO+K Architects presented Commissioners Court with a bid of $1.6 million to convert a county owned building into a compliant women inmate’s dormitory. They recommended adding an additional $300,000 to cover any unexpected expenses. HO+K put the project out to bid and the lowest bid came in at $3.6 million.
“Safety issues are paramount for not only the inmates but also our jailers. When you have to put 18 to 20 persons in a 16-person pod, you can expect tempers to flare. And our jailers are at risk having to deal with these violent episodes. We can say that currently our jail is safe, and it is clean,” said Hawthorne. “We are hiring more personnel to control the situation. But we are reaching the limit and fast.”
In the spring of 2017, Commissioners Court decided that the time was right to not only build a new jail but a justice center to go along with it. An architectural firm gave a bid to the County for $120 million. “It would be the crown jewel of jail/justice centers,” said Hawthorne. “But the cost made everyone gasp. HO+K said they could build it for $85 million so the County went with them and decided to pay for it through Certificates of Obligation (CO).” The rest is history regarding the CO. Stowell resident Hazel Meaux and then Wallisville resident, now State Senator-elect, Mayes Middleton started a petition against the County using CO to build the jail. The petition asked for a public vote on the $85 million and not allow Commissioners Court to take on so much debt without the permission of the people. Enough signatures were acquired to squash the CO but the Commissioners chose not to put the issue on the ballot. No reason was officially given.
Now, several years later and construction costs up 30% to 40% and interest rates rising, Commissioners Court is attempting to pay for the new jail/justice center through a public/private partnership, referred to as P3. This is what a P3 is – a developer will build the facility according to the needs of the County and lease the facility to the County. What is key is that the developer and the County agree on a lease and maintenance agreement. The County Auditor’s office is working with the architects to estimate the cost of the facility and to estimate how much the County can pay in rent. Even though it is not confirmed, the cost of the $85 million facility designed in 2017, will “likely be in the $100-120 million range.”
Former County Auditor Tony Sims said several times that “a problem with Commissioners Court is the procrastination. There is a lot of discussion about a project and money is allocated through a tax note to complete the project, but nothing is done. And, when the Court moves to complete the project, the costs have increased. There is not enough money to finish the project and the County must take money away from other projects to complete the initial project.”
Time is of the essence. Not only is the County on a very short leash with jail standards compliance but money is getting more and more expensive every day.
