What’s changed
HCSO oversees four different facilities in downtown Houston, with two jail facilities outsourced in Louisiana and Mississippi, as previously reported by Community Impact. As of Sept. 9, the Harris County jail was outsourcing about 16%—or 1,388 inmates—of 8,793 total inmates to facilities outside the county or state, according to the Harris County Office of County Administration’s Sept. 18 jail updates report presented during the Harris County Commissioners Court meeting.
Cost to the county
Outsourcing inmates to jails outside of Harris County’s overcrowded jails is the single most expensive budgeted item taxpayers pay for, Budget Director Daniel Ramos said in June. The county set aside $48 million in its FY 2025-26 budget for inmate outsourcing, about an 8% drop from the $52 million budgeted in FY 2024-25.
What’s being done
HCSO is aiming to eliminate an inmate outsourcing program in Mississippi by Thanksgiving, which would bring 300 inmates back to Harris County, said Tonya Mills, the justice innovation managing director for the county’s administration department, Sept. 18.
County leaders have also been working to reduce the jail’s overall population and inmates’ wait times before their case is tried, Mills said.
Since Jan. 1, Harris County has held more than 400 trials, the highest number of trials held by the county in the last decade, Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones said.
“I appreciate [District Attorney Sean Teare] and his team really administering justice to give victims and defendants their days in court,” Briones said.
Remember this?
Overcrowding and understaffing at the Harris County jail have led to failed state safety inspections, as previously reported. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards has cited the Harris County jail as noncompliant since May.
The June 30 report found four violations, such as jail officials' noncompliance with including a complete fire inspection. The violations also included improperly holding inmates in cells for more than 48 hours. Since June, three in-custody deaths have been reported by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
Something to note
Harris County’s jail facilities have about 12,162 empty inmate beds due to a lack of staff needed to run those sections, said Mills.
“I think some combination of [additional staff] plus the continued effort that we're having in reducing the jail population will allow us to get pretty close to eliminating all of the outsourcing,” Mills said.
By the numbers
The Sept. 18 report also included other statistics on the county’s jail population, with key points including:
- 89% of Harris County jail inmates are male.
- 30% of Harris County inmates are between 26-35 years old, which is the largest inmate age group.
- 48% of Harris County inmates are Black, which is the largest inmate racial group, while only 21% of the county’s total population is Black.
- Almost 3% of inmates in Harris County’s jail have waited over 1,000 days before going before a judge.
- 58% of inmates who have waited over 1,000 days before seeing a judge are Black, which is the largest racial group in this category.
