The Montgomery County Commissioners Court has created a committee to examine how to expand a jail system that is nearing its maximum capacity.

Randy McDaniel, deputy chief for the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, said the inmate population has increased about 60 percent over the last eight years and is adding 10 more prisoners per day this year than last year. McDaniel said an inmate's average stay in the jail is also longer than it was a year ago.

McDaniel attributed some of the inmate population increase to Montgomery County judges issuing stricter sentences and the housing of Texas Department of Corrections inmates at the county jail. He also attributed the growth to overall population increases countywide.

"I think there are a number of trends that contribute to this," he said. "Obviously, the greater the population growth, the greater number of crimes, the greater the number of arrests."

The jail is already nearing its maximum, McDaniel said, with about 1,240 beds of the maximum 1,253 beds in use as of August. Although Montgomery County can move inmates to other counties' jails with empty beds, he said Montgomery County has to pay for the prisoners. Medical costs and costs to transport the inmates makes it an expensive alternative.

"It is certainly problematic that you have to move prisoners to another facility and you still have to return prisoners to their court appearances," he said. "And at some point in time, it does become ineffective to have to deal with that."

McDaniel said the county is considering an expansion of the current jail of anywhere from one to four extra floors, with each floor capable of housing another 168 prisoners. Adding four floors could cost $18 million, he said, which does not include the personnel required to monitor the extra prisoners.

The county could also build another jail with 1,200-1,500 beds, which McDaniel said could cost as much as $50 million.

"That's going to be up to commissioners court to decide what the most cost effective route is," he said.

Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack, member of the jail expansion committee, said the county already has $13 million from the recent sale of the Joe Corley Detention Facility to use for the jail expansion. Noack said adding additional floors to the building would completely build out the jail and expressed concern the jail could reach its capacity again in a few years.

"We have a jail that was built in 1985," he said. "To continue to piecemeal this together, I don't know if it's wise to put another $15 million into an aging building in a time when the county is only going to grow."

Noack said the county could also construct a new facility, perhaps one that could house a courthouse. He said the committee held its first meeting in August, and he hopes to study the inmate growth to find the best long-term solution.