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| County pays up to ease jail crowding |
| By San Angelo Standard-Times |
| Published: 07/12/2006 |
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SAN ANGELO, TX - As many as 70 people can be released from the Tom Green County jail into supervision as they await trial once new personnel begin working in the local alternative incarceration program, a corrections department leader said Tuesday. The move is designed to relieve overcrowding in the county jail. Commissioners on Tuesday approved a request from Concho Valley Supervision & Corrections for two more field officers and a probation officer, two vehicles and supplies for the alternative incarceration program. Field officers are in charge of supervising people in the program to ensure they are following their itineraries and reporting back to probation officers. A probation officer conducts fieldwork and is in charge of a given case. The field officers will be paid between $19,000 and $21,000 a year, and the probation officer will get about $29,000 annually. Commissioners have allotted money for this in the budget plan for the new fiscal year. Commissioners tabled a request by the District Clerk's office for four more employees to help process cases more quickly, also with an eye toward relieving jail overcrowding. Commissioners want a more detailed account of what the salaries and benefits will be, and whether the office needs more equipment. County Judge Mike Brown said the request will probably be approved at the next meeting once commissioners review the new information. Jail population has been over capacity for the past six months, said John Wilmoth, director for the CSCD. A significant part of the problem can be attributed to the rise in the making and use of methamphetamine. On Tuesday, the county paid to house 76 inmates in other county jails. The local jail's population is 449 inmates. The alternative incarceration program expansion is designed to increase the number of people in the County House Arrest Program and the Community Housing Extended Curfew program, and the number of people released on pretrial felony bonds. Wilmoth said between 50 and 70 can be released on pretrial felony bonds. The office is targeting felony drug possession less than 1 gram and felony theft charges. Officers will not consider for release people with suspected drug distribution charges or other high-risk offenders, Wilmoth said. ''That's an accident looking for a place to happen,'' Wilmoth said. District judges have asked for four more staffers in the district clerk's office, one for each of the four district judges to move cases more quickly. Sheri Woodfin, district clerk, said the workload is increasing in the office. The office processed about 75 indictments a month a year and a half ago and is now processing more than 150 indictments per month. The extra workers would work under Woodfin's supervision. |
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