The Hidalgo County Commissioners Court is contracting a private company for approximately $13 million to operate a currently empty jail in Willacy County for the first year of a four-year contract.
This is in effort to address the county’s chronic and costly jail overcrowding problem.
Hidalgo County has had a chronic overcrowding problem in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center for decades which has cost county taxpayers tens of millions of dollars over the last 20 years.
The Hidalgo County Commissioners Court on Feb. 17 unanimously — and with no public discussion — approved the contract with LaSalle Corrections.
The terms of the contract dictate that it will be for a four-year period beginning March 2 and would be expiring Feb. 28, 2027, unless it’s terminated sooner.
It’s not immediately clear when this jail will meet standards set out by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards that will allow it to be operational.
Efforts to obtain reports and documents related to the state of the facility by The Monitor through the Texas Public Information Act were not successful due to Texas Attorney General rulings.
Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez had previously said that the building has been inspected and officials are comfortable with its use, though this was before the hiring of Halff Associates, Inc. for their survey of the building.
In early February, commissioners court approved a $187,000 invoice from the firm for that inspection.
Hidalgo County will also be allowed to extend the terms of the agreement by one year at the county’s discretion under the same terms, rates and conditions.
In an email from LaSalle Corrections’ chief financial officer, Tim Kurpiewski, to the Hidalgo County Purchasing Department, it states their best and final offer is a fixed price of $13.4 million for the first 450 inmates and $75 per day for each additional inmate up to the maximum occupancy of 568.
While this wage rate is high for the local area it won’t match the complete wage benefit/retirement package offered by your county but, it will exceed other private operators in this area, again allowing this unit to meet the expedited time frame for hiring Texas jail certified correctional officers.
The contract also states that Hidalgo County will be able to dictate the price of housing an inmate from other law enforcement agencies.
“The ability to contract with other outside agencies will give the county the ability to recognize significant savings lowering the overall fixed cost pricing,” the email said.
In addition to the fixed price of the contract with LaSalle, the company set starting pay for correctional officers at $19.50 an hour.
The staffing plans show that the total amount of staff required to run the facility would be approximately 150.
“While this wage rate is high for the local area it won’t match the complete wage benefit/retirement package offered by your county but, it will exceed other private operators in this area, again allowing this unit to meet the expedited time frame for hiring Texas jail certified correctional officers,” the email said.
The contract’s rate will grow from $13.4 million to $15.4 million from 2023 to 2028.
In 2024, the rate will be $14 million, $14.7 million by year three and $15.4 million by year four.
Hidalgo County is paying Willacy County $3 million a year for the first three years for the jail and the rent can be adjusted for the remaining term of the lease after 2046.
The total terms of that contract, which was approved by commissioners court last year, is $57.53 million.
Sheriff J.E. “Eddie” Guerra has previously said that even with the leased facility in Willacy County, he will probably have to continue leasing beds in other counties.
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>> Hidalgo County jail overcrowding nearly untenable after decades of inaction
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