Annex plans for expansion: Jail has plenty of room
By Adriana M. Chávez and Erica Molina Johnson
El Paso Times
EL PASO, Texas — While the number of criminals is expected to grow as the area’s population grows, overcrowding is not an issue in the county’s two detention facilities, law enforcement officials said.
The 25-year-old jail in Downtown El Paso has a capacity of 1,000 inmates, while the jail annex in far East El Paso can hold 1,440 inmates, said sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Jesse Tovar. Although overcrowding isn’t a problem now, the county is working on a plan to construct more inmate pods at the annex, he said.
Detention Sgt. Lucio Guevara said about 80 percent of the inmates at the Downtown facility are men. Their cells occupy seven floors, and cells for women fill another three.
Stephen Enders, director of the West Texas Community Supervision and Corrections Department, said at any time about 10,000 people are under the supervision of adult probation.
“One of every 45 adults is under our system now,” he said.
When this is added to the number who have finished their sentences, who are detained in jails, who have been sentenced to prison time; and to the number of victims, the reach of El Paso’s justice system is enormous.
“It impacts half the people in El Paso,” Enders said.
Keeping an inmate jailed at county facilities is an expensive effort that goes beyond providing basic meals and clothing.
Jail officials estimate that it costs between $95 and $140 to book and release a prisoner, depending on the arresting agency.
At the jail, it costs about $65 a day to house an inmate, Downtown Detention Facility Commander Clint Porter said.
He estimated that it costs about $56.9 million to house inmates for a year at the county detention facilities. When booking and releasing costs are factored in, the total is closer to $60 million, with different agencies picking up portions of the bill.
Enders said this compares to a cost of about $2.13 per day per offender on probation. Costs are about $4 a day for those on parole.
The cost to house an inmate doesn’t vary based on the crime they are charged with.
Porter said the jail population is widely varied.
“All kinds of prisoners are housed in the detention facilities,” he said in an e-mail. “They range from outstanding traffic tickets to capital murder, public intoxication to arson, every kind of crime.”
The jail also houses those charged with committing federal crimes, such as bank robbery, drug trafficking and human smuggling.
Adriana M. Chávez may be reached at achavez@elpasotimes.com;546-6117
Erica Molina Johnson may be reached at emolina@elpasotimes.com 546-6132.
Copyright 2008 El Paso Times, a MediaNews Group Newspaper