At Medina Commissioner’s Court this past Monday, July 10, an interlocal agreement with Zavala County for housing prisoners was authorized. The rate for housing is $50 a day per person.
Editor’s note: There are currently 28 inmates housed in other counties presently, (under different contracts). Medina County has prisoners housed in Live Oak, Bandera, and Atascosa, and Wilson County right now.
In an interview, Sheriff Randy Brown said, “If it was up to me, we would put up tents, but unfortunately unlike Arizona, we are governed by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, and they tell us what we can and can’t do. I don’t agree with some of their rules but I do have to follow them, if not, stiff penalties and fines will be assessed against the county, and in these rules, common sense is all but forgotten. If our military men and women can live in tents, why can’t inmates?”
He hopes the jail can be expanded soon, so we can house our own inmates and others to help fund it.
“In order for us to house our own inmates, we will have to add onto the jail, we are having to travel further and further to find jails with beds for our overflow, it’s not something we want, it’s something we need,” Brown said.
He hopes that Medina County will add at least 96 beds to the county jail here.
“Uvalde County is paying for their new jail by contracting beds to Federal agencies, and I hope we can do the same,” Brown said.
By Kayleen Holder and Trina Williams