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Bexar County commissioners focus efforts on helping mentally ill inmates

Commissioners expressed a need for greater state assistance for facilities to accommodate inmates mentally incompetent to stand trial.

SAN ANTONIO — The Bexar County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved nearly $3.2 million to pay deputies working overtime at the jail, while also taking initial steps towards freeing up space occupied by hundreds of mentally incompetent inmates mired in the legal system. 

The money is expected to cover 68,100 hours for uniformed deputies with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office from June 10 to Sept. 20 of this year. The approval comes amid continuing retention struggles for the department, as well as a need for deputies to work overtime to respond to what Sheriff Javier Salazar called "a rising rate" of local crime. 

"Regarding guns, regarding young people with guns, (regarding) stolen guns and stolen cars," Salazar said Tuesday, ticking off the crimes he says are growing in their frequency. 

But most of the conversation focused on the jail's mentally incompetent inmate population, and what can potentially be done to assist them. BCSO representatives said there are about 500 of those jailed individuals, about half of which are stuck in the legal system after picking up additional charges while behind bars, like assault of a deputy. 

"One inmate in particular for example, that the minute we turn away, he's literally trying to pluck his own eyeball out," Salazar said. "Consequently, we got one deputy per shift watching that inmate." 

Meanwhile, there's no immediately feasible plan for where to release the other contingent. 

"It's a complex issue," County Judge Peter Sakai said, saying the county must prioritize public safety and not release those inmates outright. "But at the same time, these mentally ill have a constitutional right not to be incarcerated. It's a balancing issue."

A 300-bed state hospital on San Antonio's south side is expected to open in March 2024. Funding for planning and constructing the new facility was approved by the Texas Legislature over multiple sessions dating back to 2017. 

Commissioner Tommy Calvert believes state government has an obligation to do more related to expanding mental health resources.

“They’re keeping the public in a state of limbo and it’s a danger to the public if these folks don’t have the proper facilities," Calvert said.

Commissioner Tommy Calvert pointed out that the state should get involved in helping to solve what he called "an unfunded mandate," and proposed that a task force look at the problem.

Asked by Calvert if any of those inmates can be transferred to state hospitals outside Bexar County while its own is under construction, a BCSO representative said private facilities could be an option. But, Salazar said, the county's jail issues reflect national tends with law enforcement agencies. 

“I’d venture to say (those other Texas counties) are probably in the same boat as us," the sheriff added. "Having just come from the National Sheriffs Conference, one of the top priorities for sheriffs talking from the legislative side of things is, ‘Get us out of the mental health business.’”

Staffing-wise, Salazar said BCSO is hiring about 300 personnel a year. But that isn't enough to shore up the continuing problem of deputies who leave or retire, adding his office could use more money to offer more competitive salaries. 

At the same time, he said BCSO's attrition issues aren't being felt to the same degree as other counties around the country. 

“It’s very concerning to me that we have to reserve this trend,” Commissioner Grant Moody said, referring to simultaneous increase in overtime costs and shrinking jail population.

Moody has supported BCSO's jail inmate competency restoration program and local efforts to boost morale at the sheriff's office through the creation of recreation rooms. 

“We look forward to working with the sheriff’s office, the deputies and the broader mental health community in trying to do that," Moody said.  

Responding to a inquiry by Sakai over whether anything can be done to alleviate the problem of the mentally incompetent jail inmates in the short-term, County Manager David Smith asked that Salazar's team provide a list of those individuals so they know which local courts they have been assigned to. 

He also said there's an avenue for the potential creation of a committee to examine the problem more closely, to which Sakai volunteered: "I'll chair the committee, David, how about that?"

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