The Hunt County Detention Center occupies a large property on Stuart Street, on the southeast side of downtown Greenville. The problem for Hunt County, though, is that the building is substandard, even though the county has passed state jail standards inspections, according to Sheriff Terry Jones. Most close observers say the county needs a new lockup, but it must ask voters to say “yes” to spending the money it will take to build one. And so far, Hunt County residents are reluctant to spring for the cost of a new jail.
According to the Greenville Herald-Banner, “The status of the Detention Center is one of the biggest issues facing the county. Plans to take another stab at building a new jail began almost immediately after the previous measure was defeated by a narrow margin of county voters in November 2021.”
The election that shot down the jail bond issue came as voters were approving several other spending measures on the same ballot. The bond issue measure failed by fewer than 200 votes out of 5,436 ballots cast. The bond issue totaled $75 million and would have paid for construction of a new jail. The turnout for the bond issue was 9 percent of the county’s registered voters.
County Judge Bobby W. Stovall delivered his “State of the County” speech in March and listed some of the issues facing the jail. He talked about worsening conditions, including cracks in the ceilings, walls and doors, constant sewer stoppages and water leaks. Some cell doors don’t operate properly and sensors in others are unable to determine if there is an inmate inside the cell or whether it’s empty. Stovall also said that the county’s lone attempt to build a new jail occurred with the November 2021 bond issue election. “You can’t repair that jail,” he said in dismissing any efforts to approve money for jail repair or renovation.
“We’ll keep propping it up as best we can and hope we don’t have to transport prisoners somewhere else,” Stovall said immediately after the November 2021 election.
Stovall blamed “bad legal advice” and a lack of time to prepare an adequate selling strategy for the failure of the bond issue in November 2021. “We had wanted to do it the following May,” Stovall said, “but we were advised to hustle it up to get it on the ballot that November. We didn’t want to wait another year.”
He said that elderly voters “knew about the condition of the jail and we depended on the old faithful voters” to help approve the bond issue.
Stovall also noted that early voting produced a 60 to 40 percent approval among those who cast ballots early. On election day, the weather turned bad and inhibited the turnout. “We ended up losing by a similar amount on election day,” he said.
The jail was built in 2003 with money approved in an earlier bond election, Stovall said, adding that the county asked voters to spend $15 million on the project.
Hunt County has appointed a 10-member citizens board, with members appointed by Stovall and each of the county commissioners. The panel has been working on potential steps the county could take to improve conditions for the inmates housed in the jail. The panel is looking at stop-gap measures to employ while working on more permanent repairs. Commerce City Manager Howdy Lisenbee serves as chair of the committee, which Stovall said comprises “business and civic leaders from all over the county.” The panel has been meeting regularly, Stovall said.
The county filed lawsuits against several companies and individuals associated with construction of the jail and received about $6 million in settlements from those lawsuits, according to Yahoo News. Stovall said the county received $9 million in settlements from the lawsuits, but then had to pay lawyers’ fees with the settlement cash. Stovall said the county targeted several interests in seeking damages from construction of the jail. “We went after the engineering firm, the architect, the court management firm,” Stovall said, expressing pleasure that the county was able to recover at least some of the money it spent on the jail project.
Hunt County commissioners recently approved the purchase of a 60-acre tract at the old Mary of Puddin Hill location at 201 E. Interstate 30, near Exit 95, not far from the Cowleech Fork of the Sabine River’s crossing under the interstate. Stovall said the county has closed the deal on the property it purchased. He said the county spent $3 million on the Puddin Hill property and $1.6 million on the 60-acre tract next to the Puddin Hill site. “Our plan is to use the building, renovate and repurpose it” to help add to the county government campus. Stovall said the county would want to build a new jail complex on the 60 acres it now owns.
Greenville Mayor Jerry Ransom also has pushed for a new jail, while acknowledging the matter remains a county issue to resolve. But during a recent State of the City speech, Ransom said Greenville residents provide about 40% of the jail population. Thus, it can be argued that the jail is a city issue as well.
“We really need this for our community,” he said.
Jones said the myriad issues with the jail stem from poor construction of the lockup, which was completed in 2003. “We intend to hire a general contractor with experience in building correctional facilities,” Jones said, referring to the outfit that built the current jail as being inexperienced in meeting the specific needs of such an operation.
Capt. Chad Stroud, who runs the jail for the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office, noted that the floor in the waiting/reception area drops off a foot from the front door toward the rear of the room. “Not only that, the entire east wall of the jail needs to be reinforced with iron fittings along the ceiling,” he said, to prevent the ceiling from collapsing and the wall from falling in either direction.
Jones, who was elected sheriff in 2020 and plans to run for re-election next year, said that “knowing what I know since taking office, it costs us $60 daily per inmate. Multiply that by 300 inmates or so, and you get an idea of how much it costs the county” to operate a secure lockup.
The county jail has a capacity to house 340 inmates, Stroud said. Occasionally, the county surpasses that maximum limit and must work with other law enforcement agencies to find places to house inmates.
Jones said that while he doesn’t consider himself to be “bleeding heart,” he added that “it is important that we remember that these inmates are human beings. I was elected to take care of them.” He described himself as a “fifth-generation resident of Hunt County, so I’m also a taxpayer and a citizen.”
Jones said he doesn’t anticipate any sort of grand class-action lawsuit over the condition of the jail. Smiling broadly when considering how to answer the question, Jones said, “Look, we have people in here who want to sue us for everything, from the condition of the doors to whether their toilets are flushing properly.”
Despite the overall poor condition of the jail, Jones and Stroud did acknowledge that the jail has central air conditioning, unlike many of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison units around the state. The TDCJ prison system came under aggressive scrutiny during the intense heat of the summer as inmates were dying from heat-related causes. Hunt County did not report any such deaths in its jail during the summer.
Jones credited his staff as well for stepping up when inclement weather affected jail operations. In February 2021, when most of the state was suffering from the deep freeze that killed hundreds of Texans, the sheriff’s department lost power, Jones said, adding that “our nursing staff brought their travel trailers in, parked them on our parking lot and provided electricity using generators from their vehicles. They took care of our inmates. I looked around and saw all those travel trailers. I’m proud of the staff we hire here.”
“The sheriff and the county judge have a great working relationship,” Stroud said in looking ahead to the possible repurposing of the Mary of Puddin Hill site into new county offices. “The thing we have to prepare for is growth in the county,” Jones said, “and we have to plan to build the new jail with the potential for growth in mind.” Indeed, Stovall credits Jones with enabling inmates to work on the jail. “The former sheriff didn’t allow them to work,’ Stovall said.
The failed bond issue included plans to attach a courts building to the detention center, which would allow the county to do something it cannot do currently. The County Courthouse is a historic building under state historic preservation codes and rules, and only can include the 196th District Court. Stovall said a new jail would enable the county to add to any expansion of the courthouse office at the Puddin Hill property, enabling the county to add courtrooms and associated office space to the county’s complex of government buildings.
Stovall said the electorate’s mood since the November 2021 election has been sour toward bond issues. “We’ve turned a bunch of them down since then,” he said, adding that “we have a couple of them on the ballot this November.” He said the bond issues set for election this fall involve school districts, including one for Greenville ISD.
“If we see the mood changing,” Stovall said, “then we might try to put another bond issue on the ballot next fall to get ourselves a new jail built. We’ll just need to take our time and prepare the issue carefully.”