The Collin County Commissioners Court voted Wednesday on a budget recommendation that would add dozens of new detention officers to the county jail. The jail is nearly full and understaffed, the sheriff said, which is driving up overtime costs in the county.
The county estimates it has already spent over $2 million on overtime pay this year, with a large portion of that spending occurring at the jail.
The county commissioners discussed at a budget workshop meeting adding funding for 41 new detention officers and a proposed overtime spending cap in the recommended general fund budget of about $3.1 million for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.
The county will fund the budget with a proposed property tax rate of $0.149 cents per $100 of a home’s value, which is roughly the same as the current rate. However, many homeowners will still see their tax bill grow if the value of their home has increased.
All four commissioners voted in favor of the draft budget and tax rate. County Judge Chris Hill voted against it.
In his budget requests, Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner told commissioners he needs more detention officers to keep up with a rising jail population. Skinner said there are about 1,200 inmates locked up in the jail, and 83 more inmates housed in facilities outside of the county. The jail has capacity for 1,298 inmates.
“We’re in a situation where if I have a busted pipe or the A/C goes out or anything happens in the jail from the facility standpoint, I've got to take all those inmates and put them on a bus and find a place to put them in West Texas or someplace else,” he said.
The Collin County jail is being expanded, which will also require hiring more staff. Skinner said the construction underway to add onto the jail has increased security needs.
“When construction folks knock a hole in the wall of our jail, we have to provide security for those folks,” Skinner said. “When that security is provided, we have officers on it 24 hours a day because the one thing we will not do is risk an escape.”
Skinner said understaffing is leading to an increase in overtime.
The sheriff listed several other reasons for the increase in overtime, including more uncooperative inmates. He said the number of felons in the jail has reached 92%, which has led to an increase in assaults on detention officers.
Currently, the county employs nearly 300 detention officers. Among those, 28 recently hired officers are still undergoing training and won’t be ready until October.
The sheriff asked for 70 more detention officers in his budget requests from the county. Commissioner Duncan Webb proposed adding 41 detention officer positions and setting an overtime spending cap.
Webb said the policy is necessary to protect the county's budget.
“Once we've hit the budget top, with no additional funding available at that point, our only option would be to cut expenses in mid-year, which involves terminating people,” he said.
Skinner said hiring more detention officers won’t completely eliminate the need for overtime, but it will reduce it.
The commissioners court is scheduled to adopt a final budget and tax rate for fiscal year 2025 on Aug. 19.
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Caroline Love is a Report For Americacorps member for KERA News.
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