SAN ANTONIO — A new report is out highlighting the problems within the Bexar County jail and what can be done to address them.
Today, the consultant presented his findings—more than a year after the county approved the study.
The report has some similarities to the one released last month which was funded by the Sheriff’s Office.
The newest report touched on some of the issues facing the jail for years including low staff morale, an increase in overtime costs, and a high inmate population. The difference in the contents of the report is mainly the format, one is a 79-page PowerPoint and the sheriff’s office-backed report was 60 pages.
There are some solutions presented that the sheriff and county commissioners agree upon.
“I have 35 years-experience in corrections,” E Keith Neely from American Jail Consultants gave his presentation on his findings from a four-day visit to the jail.
The buildings itself are in good shape but Neely has some recommendations, such as removing blinds from inmate housing due to poor visibility and adding surveillance cameras in the recreation yards.
“We’ve got about a million square feet in the jail and so they’re removing these blinds. It’s been an ongoing thing, but as they’re trying to do things like remove blinds they’ve got to go fix toilets now,” Sheriff Javier Salazar agreed with the findings in the report. He mentioned toilets, which according to the latest study, inmates have been flushing times that weren’t meant to be flushed.
According to the presentation, there were $24.5 million items budgeted for projects and $19.8 million was spent. One of the priorities outlined in the report was replacing the floors in the area where inmates are on suicide watch.
Another solution to the staffing issues is hiring civilians for jail operations positions—jobs that don’t require contact with inmates.
“If we’re able to hire some civilian staff to push uniformed deputies out onto the floors, that helps with manpower,” Sheriff Salazar says his department is also trying to ramp up recruiting efforts, another issue highlighted in the report.
The consultant also recommended some changes to the break rooms to boost employee morale. Another idea was to add computers with Internet access into the break room because jail staff aren’t allowed to bring cell phones in, according to the presentation.
“It may seem very simplistic, but it does make a difference. When a staff member is confined to a jail, you’re kind of serving time as well, can go to a break room and have a relaxed café style area, that does make a difference,” Neely told commissioners.
When asked by commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores what that top priorities should be, Neely said the staff morale and use of administrative staff on overtime would be the top issues to address moving forward.
Sheriff Salazar says there’s few differences between the two reports, but hopes it will create a path towards solutions inside the jail.
“Both consultants reports were really pretty much in line, I think ours, being a bigger report was a little more in depth, however, I think both agree on a lot of points,” Sheriff Salazar said.
Other key issues that the Sheriff says is out of his control is the inmate population. He claims around 800 inmates are awaiting transport to a state hospital bed. According to the report, 51% of the population within the jail are pre-trial felons.
The study also finds that Bexar County's starting salary for detention deputies still lags behind other major cities, including Austin, Dallas and Houston.
The agreement to do this particular study was signed in October 2021 costing nearly $20,000. It was proposed by then Commissioner Trish DeBerry after the Sheriff hired his own consultant to do a study,