WASHINGTON CO. COMMISSIONERS ADDRESS JAIL ISSUES

Noelle Buffam November 16, 2016

389

The Washington County Commissioners Court approved an agreement between Grimes County and Washington County concerning jail housing during their meeting today (Tuesday). jail

The agreement allows for Washington County prisoners to be housed in the Grimes County Jail for $55 a day, plus additional expenses. While the agreement is not currently needed, Commissioners say it acts as a safety net in case the Washington County Jail reaches capacity.

Washington County Sheriff Otto Hanak told the Commissioners that the issue is not having enough space in the jail, but rather the jail is having trouble keeping enough jailers staffed. According to Hanak, the jail has inadequate staffing due largely to low salaries for jailers. Hanak went on to say that the jail has a hard time competing with certain neighboring counties when Washington County only pays jailers $12.72 an hour. Austin County currently pays $17.62 an hour and Waller County pays jailers $18.

Washington County Judge John Brieden says the Commissioners Court did a salary survey of the surrounding areas and established that the rate for an un-certified jailer was lower than surrounding counties. Judge Brieden says they made steps to correct it:

Judge Brieden went on to say that there is room for a jailer’s salary to grow:

While the Washington County Jail has the capacity to house 177 prisoners, Sheriff Hanak says they currently only have enough jailers to keep approximately 96 prisoners. According to Hanak, Washington County is currently short three jailers.

Sheriff Hanak supplied KWHI with the document below Wednesday afternoon. It goes into more detail about the jailer's salary and includes a map showing the counties included in the Commissioners survey.