By Nathaniel Miller
Odessa American
ODESSA, Texas — A house bill filed by a state representative out of San Antonio would allow county jails to house some inmates in tents for the remainder of their sentence, but the local sheriff said he is still short 30 jailers and currently not thinking about jail expansion.
The bill, H.B. 161, filed by Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, for the upcoming 84th Texas Legislature, that if approved, would allow inmates in county jails to spend the remainder of their sentences in tents or other facilities that are not attached to a county jail.
Larson, who said he got the idea after spending time with Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio and expanding off the state’s existing law on tents, said he was impressed with how the set up in Arizona was run.
“There’s a waiting list of inmates who want to be in the tents,” Larson said in a phone interview. “You don’t have air condition or TV, but at the same time, you get the chance to lie out under the stars.”
The tents wouldn’t be a reward of any sorts, and there would be rules on which inmates could stay in the tents.
Larson said under the state’s current rules for temporary tents, inmates that stay in the tents have to be non-violent offenders and serve in some sort of work program. Criminals with crimes such as assault, robbery or other “violent” crimes would not be permitted to stay in the tents.
Additionally, the tents and support structures would have to be built to provide for adequate spacing to facilitate access of emergency and service vehicles and equipment, according guidelines presented by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.
A security perimeter would also have to be provided around the tent compound to deter inmate escapes and the introduction of contraband, the guidelines stated.
“These are not the folks where there is a big flight risk involved,” Larson said. “The average cost (of housing inmates) is between $45 to $55. The cost of housing low risk inmates should be a lot less than those in the hardened facility.”
The idea of using additional housing for inmates is not new to the state, as it was first enacted for temporary use by lawmakers in 1994.
Brandon Wood, executive director with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, said the last county he could remember applying to use temporary tent housing was Cameron County; which housed 32 inmates for about a year.
Still, not everyone thinks Ector County is ready for any expansion of the jail, especially when there is still a shortage of jailers.
Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson said the department was short 30 jailers, and did not think an expansion would be good use of his limited resources.
Overcrowding inmates at the jail also made the Ector County Commissioners approve sending inmates to Lynn County for about $30 a day back in November 2013. The Ector County Detention Center can house a maximum of 667 inmates.
Even if he did have more employees, Donaldson said he would need additional jailers to watch inmates outside of the jail and make sure they were maintaining the state mandated ratios.
“If you stuck 48 people outside, that’s going to take five jailers just to watch them,” Donaldson said.
Ector County Judge Susan Redford also said she did not see the bill immediately affecting jail numbers, echoing Donaldson’s concerns about not having enough jailers.
“In a perfect world, where we’re fully staffed, we would welcome to the opportunity to look at temporary housing,” Redford said.
Wood said if the bill goes into effect, it would be up to each county sheriff and commissioner’s court to decide if they want to go with tents, saying it was an “added tool” for local government.
“The safety of the community has to be taken into account … and counties that want this, we would work with them and see if it was a viable option,” Wood said.