By Ashley Sava

Hays County Commissioners approved an interlocal agreement between Hays County and Bastrop County for the housing of Hays County inmates at the Bastrop County Jail. 

Currently, when inmates at the Hays County Jail exceed capacity, administrators transfer them to Guadalupe County Jail, which is also edging toward overcapacity.

The new agreement provides an alternative for the housing of Hays County inmates when necessary due to a lack of space at both the Hays County Jail and the Guadalupe County Jail.

Capt. Mark Cumberland of the Hays County Sheriff’s Office said the cost per inmate at Bastrop County Jail is $45 a day, compared to $50 per day at Guadalupe County Jail. That amount does not include transportation costs or salaries.

“We plan on continuing to use Guadalupe County,” Cumberland said. “We decided we need a backup plan. This is to move prisoners over there in emergency situations only.”

The concern about overcrowding in the Hays County Jail has been an ongoing issue for the county since 2002. That year, Hays County began transferring inmates to Guadalupe County due to the overcrowding. The practice stopped in 2003 and 2004, but restarted in 2005 and continued until Sheriff Gary Cutler took office in 2010. 

Hays County spent more than one million dollars shipping inmates abroad and housing them between 2009 and 2011, but Cutler’s internal changes, such as faster magistration, ankle monitors for non-serious offenders and work programs that offer inmates credit for good behavior, helped alleviate overpopulation concerns. 

As a result, the inmate population decreased dramatically, and for more than three years, Hays County did not transfer a single inmate. 

However, the practice picked up again last summer as overcrowding once again began plaguing the jail. On July 14, Sheriff Gary Cutler made the decision to transfer 22 inmates to the Guadalupe County Jail.

County officials have expressed an interest in expanding the jail as soon as possible to avoid transporting and housing inmates offsite, as well as to alleviate concerns with an aging building. 

In February, county commissioner Will Conley told the Hays Free Press, “The guts are just old and worn out; we’ve taken it as far as we can go.”

The maximum capacity of the Hays County Jail is 362 inmates, but it is considered full at 311. Theses numbers are based on a recommendation from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards that says 10 percent of  beds should be kept open as a buffer.

Last week, the Hays County jail had an average of 309 inmates with a peak of 319, with an average of 261 men and 48 women.