Outsourcing inmates to Louisiana

Houston Chronicle:

With the Harris County Jail already filled to the brim and an influx of inmates expected this summer, the sheriff's department is asking Commissioners Court for permission to send another 1,130 more inmates to Louisiana facilities.

Harris County already incarcerates 600 inmates at a private detention center in northeast Louisiana at a cost of $9 million a year.

The proposal on today's agenda calls for sending 130 more inmates to that facility and negotiating with other lockups for another 1,000 beds on an as-needed basis. At $38 per inmate per day, those additions could bring the annual cost for incarcerating inmates outside Harris County to $24 million.

As of Monday, a little more than 11,000 inmates were being housed in the jail's four facilities, sheriff's department spokesman Capt. John Martin said.

The Harris County Jail is certified to hold a maximum of 9,400 inmates. The state jail commission temporarily has authorized the detention of 2,000 more inmates on so-called "variance beds," nonstandard metal frame bunks on the floor. The county originally was granted permission for 1,000 extra bunks last year, but has had to ask for increases several times in the past year, Martin added.

"We're very rapidly approaching maximum capacity," he said.

Harris County long has struggled to meet Texas' mandatory staffing ratio of one guard for every 48 inmates. The jail was out of compliance from 2004 to 2006, when county officials spent millions to beef up staff by expanding overtime and hiring more guards.

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It may be something of a homecoming for many of the inmates since several came to Houston to commit crimes after Katrina drove them out of New Orleans. The Harris County jail is not that old. The County should consider building an additional facility. With a population in the county of between four and five million people, it is not surprising that more than 10,000 may be accused of criminal activity.