County to Commit Millions to New Jail

A brand new jail and a courthouse remodel are planned in Tom Green County. On Tuesday, the commissioners court unanimously agreed to put the public on notice that on Nov. 17, the county will commit to funding both projects, plus a few additional county renovation and construction projects.

The decision follows an extensive needs analysis the county had conducted recently, plus two individual workshops detailing the options for construction hosted by architects earlier this year. Despite a dire need for expansion of both the jail and courthouse buildings, the county has opted only to finance a new jail facility on the edge of town and a $5 million remodel of the current courthouse.

In workshop in May, architects estimated that the cost of the new jail facility—to be built on county land off of highway 67 and 277—would run approximately $60 million. There were, however, several contingencies built into that estimate, and architects have recently quoted $45 million for the project. That is the number the county intends to move forward on.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Financial Adviser Robert Henderson of RBC Capital Markets explained how the project would be funded before the court.

“This county, through its conservative practices in the past, has got very little debt, and what debt you do have pays off next year,” Henderson said. “With the additional transfer of one penny reflecting from the M&O side (maintenance and operations) to the I&S side (interest and sinking), the county has the ability to issue this $53.5 million with no tax rate increase…to the citizens of Tom Green County.”

The lifespan of use for the new jail and other facilities is projected to be approximately 50 years or more. The county intends to finance the structures through over 40 percent of their lives, somewhere between 20 and 22 years, Henderson said.

Now is the ideal time to embark on such projects due to the county’s position at a 40-year low on interest rates, and the cheaper construction costs spurred by a dip in the oil business, Henderson added.

County Judge Steve Floyd noted the dire need the county is seeing with regard to the facilities as discussion turned to the commissioners.

“These aren’t glamorous projects; they’re dealing with infrastructure primarily for our biggest budget driving issue,” he said.

The primary concern is for the jail, which is not only outdated but has been running at or near capacity for years and has several compliance issues with the jail standards commission.

“I sat in on the last report that we had with the jail standards [commission]…” Commissioner Rick Bacon recalled. “I just remember sitting in that meeting and that guy saying, ‘you guys need to do something. We’re getting to the point where we might not be able to come back here and keep allowing you some of the variances that we have.’”

Commissioner Bill Ford agreed that the jail situation is dire, remembering his own first tour of the facility two and a half years ago

“Seeing the infrastructure and how it’s held together—or not held together in this case—I saw that something had to be done,” Ford said. “After dozens of dozens of meetings with…judges and architects and everybody involved…I’m more than pleased than with how everything has worked out. We’re looking at a perfect time to do what we’ve got to do.”

Ben Woodward, 119^th District Judge, spoke to the issue with the jail capacity the county has been facing for the last decade, noting that a special committee was formed to address those problems that eventually turned into full-time positions.

“Years ago, the jail and [former County] Judge Brown was anticipating $2 million a year to put people in other counties because we couldn’t handle it,” Woodward said. “We modified a lot of our procedures, commissioner Floyd came back and added additional personnel, additional equipment, [and] we haven’t spent that $2 million yet. We changed our procedures to get that done. We’ve hit a wall, though. I’m not sure we can change our procedures anymore.”

Woodward noted that with an increased jail capacity, more and improved court facilities would be needed to process those cases efficiently.

“That is a beautiful building,” he said, referencing the courthouse. “But it is built for a county clerk, district clerk, county attorney, district attorney—all these administrative offices. They moved out as their needs increased…and we’re filling it up with the courts…When the courthouse was built, there was one district judge and one county judge. Now, we have four district judges, two associate judges, two county judges, county at law judge and a county judge. That’s a lot more business…we desperately need this.”

After the workshop was held to discuss the jail needs and design plans last May, another workshop of the same nature was held to discuss building an additional courts building behind the existing structure. Ultimately, the county decided to forego that building, but still plans to dedicate $5 million to renovation of the courthouse, which will expand courtrooms and relocate some of the non-court offices currently occupying the space.

“Our most dire need is space,” Woodward said. “We have one courtroom that’s big enough for a big trial; the other courtrooms—we have one medium-sized, it’s ok for a medium trial—the rest of the courtrooms are too small. The area where the lawyers work and the clients sit is very crowded. They can’t move. That reduces your efficiency. One of the big things is the public has the right…to see it working. We don’t have room for the public in three of those courtrooms.”

Security is another issue, Woodward noted. Due to the current layout of the building, judges, lawyers and defendants share the same halls as the public, which not only causes security threats, but also places members of the court who are not permitted to discuss the case in the same area as the witnesses and watchers.

“Our biggest concern is the family law cases; those can be very volatile, and if you’re crowded, there’s a problem with that,” Woodward said. “I don’t know if they can get those zones in there like we would like, but we’ll see what the architects can do.”

The extent of the courthouse renovation was not discussed on Tuesday; however, both projects, plus the additional JP offices, are anticipated to be complete or mostly complete within three years. Construction on the jail should start within a year.

On Nov. 17, the county will adopt the resolution that will commit the funds to the construction projects. Public comment is encouraged before and at that meeting; thereafter, the county will move forward.