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COMMISSIONERS' GOURTAG NDA R Q F,~
• PI FASF FURNISH ONF ORI MINA AND S vFN rOPI OF THI R 01FST ANn nnr~)MFNT~
lOD[R~VI•W~DDY111• OIRT,
MADE BY: Bill Ray OFFICE: County Commicc'on r_ Prar inrt ~
MEETING DATE; March 29, 1990
SUBJECT: (PLEASE BE SPECIFIC):
Standards Commission.
TIME PREFERRED:
Report from Bill Ray on meeting with the Texas Jail
ESTIMATED LENGTH OF PRESENTATION:
IF PERSONNEL MATTER -NAME OF EMPLOYEE:
NAME OF PERSON ADDRESSING THE COURT: county commissioner. Precinct 2
Time for submitting this request for Court to assure that the matter is posted In
accordance with Article 6252-1 7 Is as follows:
• Meetings held on second Monday: 12:00 P. M. previous Wednesday
• Meetings held on Thursdays: 5:00 P. M, previous Thursday.
If preferable, Agenda Requests may be made on office stationery wltli the above
Information attached.
THIS REQUEST RECEIVED BY: LR
THIS REQUEST RECEIVED ON: 3-27-90 @ ~, :.p0 a.m
All Agenda Requests will be screened by the County Judge's Office to determine If
adequate Information has been prepared for the Court's formal consideration and action at
[Ime of Court meetings. Your cooperation well be appreciated and contribute towards
your request being addressed at the earliest opportunity.
STATEMENT to the TEXAS COMMISSION ON JAIL STANDARDS
FROM the KERB COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT
28 March 1990, 9:00 a.m.
611 South Congress Avenue, Suite 201
Austin, Texas
The Kerr County Citizens Committee was charged to study the current
and future needs of the county as relates to a jail, juvenile detention
center, office space, and the Agricultural complex. The Committee has
completed their study as relates to the jail only, and have submitted their
recommendations to the Kerr County Commissioners Court.
The essence of their report was that Kerr County is in need of additional
jail space; 95 - 110 beds were recommended.
They also suggested evaluating all alternative options to incarceration in
an attempt to reduce Kerr County's jail bed requirements. This includes
minimizing waiting time until trial date and the use of "innovative
sentencing."
We are presently holding workshops with District and County Court at
Law Judges, prosecuting attorneys, the Chief Probation Officer and city and
county law enforcement officials to see what changes can be instituted to
achieve the goal of compliance with Jail Standards.
It is our sincere effort to present our bond needs to the voters of Kerr
County no later than the November, 1990 ballot.
Respectfully
Y,/'/~G~
]3ILL RAY
Kerr County Commissioner
Enclosures:
1. Cover Letter -Kerr County Citizens Committee Report
2. Executive Summary -Kerr County Citizens Committee Report
3. Letter - detenting member of the Kerr County Citizens Committee
TRIP REPORT:
Texas Commission on Jail Standards
Congress Square II
611 South Congress Avenue, Suite 201
28 March 1990, 9:00 a.m.
NEXT COMMISSION MEETING: 23 MAY 1990
See Agenda for comments
Judge Roy English -absent
Small room based on the crowd attending. If you want a seat you
need to be there by 0845 hours. Speaker system carries testimony
to audience overflow room. Session taped, Commission members
facing testimony table, Jail Standards staff members at 90° angle to
Commission members.
Counties with "flights out" are given preference, otherwise
generally followed agenda.
Kerr County -Presented hand-out, introduced myself, Tommy
Richter, Jail Administrator, and Dick Kinkead, Jail Secretary, with the
statement that any questions relating to the jail would be deferred to
them.
Question: Are you the only one from your Commissioners Court
here?
Answer: Yes Sir.
Question: Where is your County Judge?
Answer: He had prior commitments, to-day is not State
Hospital day, I think he is conducting Probate and Juvenile
hearings.
Read the prepared statement for the record and referred to the
enclosures, -Citizens Committee Cover Letter, Executive Summary,
and Disagreement Letter from one of the two committee members
that did not sign the Citizens Committee Report. Offered my copy of
the Citizens Committee Report to the Commission for the record. This
was declined.
Staff members pointed out that Kerr County was presently
meeting requirements and had been certified last week. Richter
stated that the population was 53 and we were in full compliance at
this time. The Commission members were aware that our jail has
excess population from time to time.
1
Question: (del Carmen) What did we mean by "innovative
sentencing"?
Answer: First time offenders, sentenced to one year or less,
being placed in Community Corrections Centers as opposed to
sending to TDC. We had held a workshop with the people listed
just yesterday morning and with the addition of another
courtroom and using visiting judges there was a possibility of
reducing our jail bed requirements by a maximum of 20.
(Stumbled with this answer, tried to stress that the addition of
a minimum security/community corrections facility would
meet some needs.)
Question: (Chairman Uhr) Were we going to try to do all of
these things in one bond issue, i.e., jail, juvenile, office space
and Ag complex?
Answer: Yes, sir. Kerr County is not unique in the tax dollar
crunch, we have all of these requirements, however, the
Agricultural Complex would probably not be addressed in the
bond issue. It is our sincere effort to present this to the voters
on the November, 1990 ballot. Referred to the letter from Jack
Crump, dated 14 March, asking for design firm selection,
financing arrangements and completion dates. Stated that we
are not prepared at this time to address these questions
specifically.
Question: (Sheriff Corley) Are all members of the
Commissioners Court behind this bond issue?
Answer: No sir.
Statement: (Sheriff Corley) If ALL members of the
Commissioners Court are not behind the bond issue I/we can
guarantee failure. Just one commissioner being against a bond
issue can defeat it.
Motion: (Sheriff Klevenhagen) I move that we require all
members of the Ken County Commissioners Court to be present
at the May meeting of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards
and present us with their plan of action.
Statement: (Sheriff Corley) Wait. They are in compliance at
this time. We may be setting a precedence that we don't want
to start.
Statement: (Chairman Uhr) The staff will continue to monitor
the situation in Kerr County. I understand there is in excess of
2,000 unserved warrants. We request the entire
Commissioners Court to attend the May meeting with more
definitive plans and a written proposal. (Letter from Jack
Crump is expected to follow.)
2
Editorial: 14 counties were scheduled to attend this meeting. In
every case, each county testified as to what they were doing to come
into compliance with Jail Standards, we heard bond issues failing;
reasons why; solutions offered; and bond issues re-set for as soon as
May. Two counties were given additional time because a decision
has been requested from the Attorney General on the legality of
"Design/Build". If a county is making a sincere effort to resolve the
issue (either with bonds or Certificates of Obligations, or hiring firms,
etc.) the Commission was willing to extend their respective time
frame. Staff members had input throughout the hearing. The one
exception was Zavala County. They were told at the January meeting
to correct the situation with Washington D.C. prisoners being housed
in a private, minimum security, low-risk facility. The fact was that
the prisoners were not in fact, low-risk. Zavala County was asking
for another week, after meeting with the staff yesterday, to correct
the situation. (They had done nothing except identify high-risk
prisoners, and had not moved them out.) The Commission voted 4 to
3 to close the facility. During testimony, of which all statements
were sworn, this facility provided funds for one-half of their county
budget, not counting local employment.
Bottom line -you had best be sincerely attempting to correct the
situation or the Texas Commission on Jail Standards would shut you
down.
Respectfully,
~~
BILL RAY
3
'_ _ ~_.
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I,JLC~ Krvke~o ~~y
AGENDA
Meeting: Texas Commission on Jail Standards
Place: Congress Square II,
611 South Congress Avenue, Suite 201
Time: 9:00 A.M.
Date: March 28, 1990
I. Meeting called to order
II. Roll Call of Commission Members
~~ b Uhr Judge Roy English
/Sheriff Johnny Klevenhagen vDr. Charles Hurst
vDr. Rolando del Carmen ~I)avid Nelson
/Sheriff Jae Corley "koy Orr
/I'ex Corley
III. Reading and approval of minutes of last regular meeting.
IV. Old Business:
U1~ - Bowie County -
status of planning ~~~~a 26
~~"'
o Anml uc.l~u2vw`~~ ~~-'r~
F
5 S a4-'~ H

~~ ~~
~~j
- Delta County - Status of jail plan~ni~n~Qg/design
build proposal n~r~~R-es~~~«.~ ~" /T'"- ~~~,z
- Denton County - correction of life safety ~Zx~,~_~.d'
- Fr~kli,p Coun y -~~status of jail planning 4 `P°``1~~C
- HarriGGSO~n ounty- status of jail planning~6~I,~~/
e- " 3
- Ker~~ounty - status of jail planning ~ ~ `
- Lamar County - status of construction/violations
wn~
- Mor is Cty_~,,,statu~of~a~l planning/remedial n/~
order /((.~~~~ ooh/--~~^^~~'' ,~~~~,o,~.~~'t'd~.~P"^""
- Van Zandt County - status of jail planningP~`"' ""
J - Zavala County - corrective measures; review of
low risk procedures; change to standards
K - Juvenile Justice Sur- ~ plG,~ ~~ '~
L - Development of AIDS Policy Guide V,~/,~,~~~
M - Life Safety Review Committee v~,, , _...
a a ~ ~~,.~
I,IC s~
~a~~ ,. -
~".~~ -gyp
N - Completed Jail Projects ,vj~, ,,~a /~,l~~~J,-3~~
0 - Jail Population Report b7 ~jaj'~ G~
P - Development of Private facilities
Q - Active Remedial Orders
VI. New Business:
~~ f~° :~-
A - Cass County - status of planning / ~,y' 4~,
B - Hardin County - status of planning ~~ ~ ' p
`~ C - Henderson County - review of tem~o~ry structure
~v-ate
D - Polk County - overpopulated conditio n-
Ni ~, `~~.
II. Application for Variance(s): ~8(.-~-
IV. Directors Report: ~pw
- Finance Report
- Inspections
- Letters of Non-compliance
- Jails in Compliance
- Jails in Construction/Planning
- Jails not Certified/Non-Compliant Jails
- State Jail Capacity/Population/Projections
- West Texas Judges and Commissioners Conference
- Regional Jail Conference
- Staff Review of Standards
- Update on Consultation/Technical Assistance
- Texas Open Meeting Handbook
VIII. Other Business:
A - Miscellaneous letters of comment/appreciation
IX. Executive Session:
A - Litigation affecting Jail Commission
2

STATEMENT to the TEXAS COMMISSION ON JAIL S"I'ANDARDS
FROM the KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT
28 March 1990, 9:00 a.m.
611 South Congress Avenue, Suite 201
Austin, Texas
The Kerr County Citizens Committee was charged to study [he current
and future needs of the county as relates to a jail, juvenile detention
center, office space, and the Agricultural complex. The Committee has
completed their study as relates to the jail only, and have submitted their
recommendations to the Kerr County Commissioners Court.
The essence of their report was that Ken County is in need of additional
jail space; 95 - 110 beds were recommended.
They also suggested evaluating all alternative options to incarceration in
an attempt to reduce Kerr County's jail bed requirements. This includes
minimizing waiting time until trial date and the use of "innovative
sentencing."
We are presently holding workshops with District and County Court at
Law Judges, prosecuting attorneys, the Chief Probation Officer and city and
county law enforcement officials to see what changes can be instituted to
achieve the goal of compliance with Jail Standards.
It is our sincere effort to present our bond needs to the voters of Kerr
County no later than the November, 1990 ballot.
Respectfully
Gam`'
BILL RAY
Kerr County Commissioner
Enclosures:
1. Cover Letter -Kerr County Citizens Committee Report
2. Executive Summary -Kerr County Citizens Committee Report
3. Letter - desenting member of the Kerr County Citizens Committee