(ROCKWALL, TX – August 30, 2018) During a special meeting held on Monday, Aug. 20, the Rockwall County Commissioners Court approved a jail expansion bond to go on the Nov. 6, 2018 election ballot for voter consideration.
The court approved a bond election on Nov. 6 in the aggregate principle amount of $50,270,000 for the purpose of providing funds for designing, expanding, constructing, improving and equipping Rockwall County law enforcement and Detention Center facilities.
The $50 million would go towards a renovation of the existing jail to include expanded sheriff’s operations, staff facilities, warehouse and maintenance support functions, plus all new housing within the jail to support 400 total beds and an additional 22 beds for inmates with mental health issues.
Project consultants Broaddus & Associates and DLR Group presented the court with three options for jail expansion during the court’s regular meeting on Aug. 14: construction of a brand new jail on the existing site, a combination of new construction and renovation of the existing facility, or solely rehabbing the existing jail facility. After many discussions with the project consultant and the Sheriff’s Office, Commissioner Lee Gilbert said they decided on the second option which would support 352 total beds. In later deliberations with the Sheriff’s Office and the consultant, he said Sheriff Eavenson and his staff felt strongly that 400 total beds would better suit the needs of the jail moving forward.
“What most people don’t understand is that out of those 400 beds, we have to have a minimum of 10 percent of those as individual separation cells for disciplinary issues, which takes us down to 360 usable beds,” Eavenson said. “So that’s really the primary reason why I felt that 400 beds was a better option long term for the county. Looking into the future, I’m not sure how far 400 beds will take us, but it’ll take us a lot farther than 352 when you look at the growth of our jail population in the past two years.”
Major Todd Calkins of the Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office pointed out that the new jail design would also save the county on staffing costs. The proposed design offers more indirect supervision where an officer can sit in a control room above the cell pods and monitor several cells at once.
“The linear design that we have today is more staff intensive, meaning it takes more people patrolling the hallways. The proposal by Broaddus and DLR is to have a more open concept which will reduce the cost for staffing because we won’t need as many people supervising the inmates,” Calkins said.
Based on preliminary savings cost numbers provided by Broaddus and DLR, Gilbert said the county would save around $10 million on personnel costs. With the additional beds, the county would also save substantially on the cost of having to send out prisoners to other counties.
“It’s important to know that we currently are spending in the neighborhood of $500,000 to send inmates to other facilities. That does not count the transportation, the vehicles, the personnel or the risks involved of something like a wreck on the highway. So if you add a $10 million personnel savings and a $10 million cost of sending out – which is factual and is what we are doing today, not projected – we’re looking at a $20 million cost savings in the next 20 years over the way we’re operating the jail today,” Gilbert said.
One resident spoke against the bond during Monday’s meeting. Rockwall resident Tom Galli felt there should have been more in the public record about the jail improvements prior to the court’s vote on a bond election.
“There was no paperwork in the public record about the jail expansion. I contend that you gentlemen do not have the basis to make this decision before the paperwork is put in the public record, because I have a right to be informed,” Galli told the court.
Three other residents in attendance voiced their support for the jail expansion, including Mark Kipphut of McLendon-Chisholm.
“We have created a county that is a destination. If we are going to be a county that wants to have a vibrant economic environment, we’re going to need a jail that’s properly staffed and has the resources the sheriff needs to be able to maintain law and order,” Kipphut said.
Submitted press release.
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