Harris County Jail Remains Out of Compliance

Who is benefitting from this Malfeasance?

Harris County Jail continues to remain out of compliance with state regulations following years of concerns about in-custody deaths and overcrowding. State officials have granted the sheriff's office until November to address these issues or face further actions.

According to HCSO Assistant Chief Phillip Bosquez, of the 7,466 inmates currently housed in the Harris County Jail, over 1,500 are transferred or housed out-of-state. Approximately 950 of these inmates, all are pre-trial inmates, are currently in facilities in Mississippi or Louisiana.

The financial implication of sending inmates out-of-state to PRIVATELY owned jails cost county taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year. This issue has been festering in the county for years, but for some reason our ‘Social Justice’ politicians don’t seem to care all that much about rectifying this issue.

On June 28th, 2022 Harris County Budget Director, Daniel Ramos stated in Commissioners Court it was costing the county $250 million a year just to outsource inmates to out-of-state facilities due to overcrowding.

Watch video here

On September of 2022, Harris County was found to be in “noncompliance status” per TX Commission on Jail Standards, due to overcrowding. Sheriff Ed GONZALES stated in his letter to the commission that there are 10,343 people currently in custody. Over 10k for 1st time in a decade. The County sheriff had blamed court backlog which started in 2017, became "worse during Covid"

According to my sources, surrounding counties had offered to jail inmates, but Harris County has allegedly refused, opting to send inmates to privately-owned facilities.

Even more concerning, there is an empty jail sitting here in Harris County which if it were to receive renovations, would easily be able to house the inmates in order to eradicate the continuous hemorrhaging of money by stopping the sending of pretrial inmates out-of-state to await trial. Makes you wonder, is the backlog intentionally created in order to make someone rich?

This issue has only been exacerbated by the years-long criminal backlog. State makers have been attempting to address the backlog by creating more criminal courts, but due to creative ways the county has actively defunded the District Attorneys office by adding strings-attached like conditions through funding the office with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, there is only so much the DA’s office can do. From what has been discussed in Commissioners Court, the ARPA funds only would fund Prosecutorial positions for one year, so what lawyer would quit their job and accept one in Harris County for one year only? Not many. Thus, leading to an understaffed District Attorney’s office.

During a compliance meeting the state held, the State Commissioner has found it concerning the practices of Harris County outsourcing prisoners to out-of-state facilities and seek to change the laws in order to prevent the county from continuing said practices.

Community advocate Rev. Jacilet Griffin, who has been vocal about the conditions at the jail and the deaths of inmates, expressed concerns about the oversight of the facility. Griffin's son, Evan Griffin Lee, died in March 2022 while in custody. He was arrested in December 2021 in the Arcola area while walking home from a local store and sent to jail. Griffin was told her son had a warrant out for his arrest, but the family still has questions about the charge. She has yet to receive his autopsy report, and the case remains under investigation by the Texas Rangers.

Griffin criticized the lack of communication between the Commission on Jail Standards and the Harris County Jail.

"I asked the Commission Chair how they are communicating about the non-compliance issues and if they are fully aware of the situation at the Harris County Jail," Griffin said. "The response was simply ‘at the meetings,’ but I believe there should be more thorough communication."

Watch video here

Someone here is getting mighty rich from this issue persisting…. I wonder who?