HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – On Tuesday, the Harris County Commissioners Court unanimously approved $7.4 million to allow for improvements at the Harris County Jail.
ARPA funding will be used to fund $3 million, while the remaining will come out of the county’s general fund.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez appeared before the court on Tuesday to discuss the state of the jails.
On March 8, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards sent a letter to Gonzalez and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo outlining a number of deficiencies at the facility during its most recent inspection.
Gonzalez said the jail has been on the TCJS’s list for 14 of the past 20 years.
Gonzalez spoke about overcrowding, long inmate stays, inmate deaths and the struggle to retain detention staff with the current wage the county offers.
Gonzalez asked the court to fund body-worn cameras for detention staff to help with transparency, money to create a detention rank position for employees who want to advance their careers, and to add a case manager and incentive pay to try to retain detention staff.
“It includes a $2,000 longevity incentive for all detention officers. They would revive the first $1,000 in six months and the second $1,000 six months after that,” Gonzalez said. “We hope this convinces some to stay around longer to stabilize our workforce until commissioners court is able to implement more significant pay raises that we all agree are needed.”
Judge Hidalgo said the funding wasn’t in the budget, but that the additions were necessary since the inmates are in the county’s custody.
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