1 1 2 3 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' COURT 4 Special Session 5 Monday, August 7, 2017 6 9:00 a.m. 7 Commissioners' Courtroom 8 Kerr County Courthouse 9 Kerrville, Texas 78028 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 PRESENT: TOM POLLARD, Kerr County Judge HARLEY BELEW, Commissioner Pct. 1 24 TOM MOSER, Commissioner Pct. 2 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 25 BOB REEVES, Commissioner Pct. 4 2 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 1.1 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 3 action to approve the Interlocal 4 Cooperation Agreement between Kerr County and Bell County for Detention 5 Services and allow County Judge to sign. 6 *** Adjournment. 11 7 *** Reporter's Certificate. 12 8 * * * * * * 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 JUDGE POLLARD: It's 9 or 9:02 a.m. on 2 August the 7th, 2017, the Kerr County Commissioners' 3 Court is in session. We have one item on the agenda 4 today, item 1.1 consider, discuss and take appropriate 5 action to approve the Interlocal Cooperation Agreement 6 between Kerr County and Bell County for detention 7 services and allow the County Judge to sign same. We 8 also have after that, we're going to have another 9 workshop session on the budget. And we've got to get 10 this budget adopted no later than the 14th. So we're 11 going to go ahead and have regular session first. 12 I'll call item 1.1 and I just read it. 13 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: You should have a copy 14 of it in your backup. County Attorney has reviewed it. 15 We do have a current contract, which is our main one 16 with Burnet County on housing inmates when we close the 17 facility, but we cannot find another County around that 18 either they're too short of staff to take inmates, or 19 they don't have the capacity to take inmates. So the 20 closest one that we can find to contract with is Belton, 21 Bell County, and the only part I don't like about it, 22 but there's nothing I can do it about it at this point, 23 is our contract with Burnet County is currently 35 24 dollars a day per inmate. After October 1 it will be 25 going up to 40 dollars a day. And we're going to 4 1 probably have to house all our inmates out until I'm 2 guessing about December 14th, is the reality is what I'm 3 looking at. We currently, as of today, have about 82 or 4 83 inmates in Burnet County, still got 75 inside our 5 facility that we need to get out by the 14th through the 6 21st, and the only other place to go with them is going 7 to be Belton. Burnet County is trying to get us beds, 8 more beds, because we told them any beds they get we 9 will fill. Hayes is gradually pulling some out. Right 10 now I need to start shipping to Belton, and Belton's the 11 best contract that we could get is 68 dollars a day. 12 JUDGE POLLARD: Wow. 13 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: So that's going cost 14 us. 15 JUDGE POLLARD: Just multiplying those 16 numbers out for the estimated period of time -- 17 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Well, that estimated 18 period of time we're going to be looking at about -- if 19 I had to have 70 to 75 in Belton, and another hundred in 20 Burnet, you're going to look at about 1.2, 1.3 million 21 dollars. And there is money in that budget. 22 JUDGE POLLARD: And the bond issue to cover 23 that? 24 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Yes, there is. As long 25 as we do not have any major, major medical issues during 5 1 that time, and because we're going to have to be paying. 2 Now, the only nice thing I guess you can say, if you 3 have to say something about it, with Belton is they do 4 have the same medical contractor that we do, so we will 5 still only have to be paying our medical contract price 6 with them. Where with Burnet we're paying full medical 7 costs if they have to send them to Austin, and also 8 Burnet if they have to send one to Austin hospital, then 9 they will also charge us an additional 70 dollars an 10 hour until we can get officers there to relieve their 11 officers. So -- 12 MRS. DOSS: It's going to be a moving 13 target. 14 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: It's going to be a 15 moving target, but that's the best we can. We did talk 16 to the commander in charge of Burnet again as of Friday 17 night and he said it did look like Hayes was pulling 18 more of there's out because they still got about a 19 hundred over there, so the more they pull out the more 20 we're going to put in Burnet and if we have them all in 21 Belton -- 22 JUDGE POLLARD: Accommodate us? 23 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Yes. 24 JUDGE POLLARD: Oh, that's great. Send them 25 a thank you note. 6 1 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: And if we have them in 2 Belton then as soon as Hayes -- I mean as Burnet gets an 3 opening we'll transfer the ones from Belton to Burnet. 4 It's going to be a -- it's going to be a serious issue 5 all the way around, because of the court processes, the 6 temporary facility we have cannot have over 30 inmates 7 in it at any given time. And out of those, it's about 8 two females, and so it's going to be a lot of transport. 9 We haven't figured in any of the transport costs. I'm 10 just getting that in my budget right now, and using that 11 budget. 12 Now, the only other advantage we have done, 13 and I should have the rest of the paperwork on it today, 14 is I did meet with a vendor on GPS ankle monitoring on 15 some of these non-violent offenders so putting them out 16 on ankle monitors. So when we get into the budget and 17 you start talking about budget I'm going to ask that the 18 Commissioners consider putting about 25 thousand dollars 19 in my budget for that process, because that will cost us 20 about $7.50 a day to have somebody on a monitoring if 21 it's what they call passive, which is normal. If it's a 22 high risk one, which I don't see them going at all, but 23 it would still be about $10.50 a day. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You don't have anything 25 in your current budget? 7 1 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I have nothing in my 2 current budget for that kind of stuff. 3 JUDGE POLLARD: Does it take more people in 4 the office then to monitor the stuff on that? 5 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: The vendor does all 6 that out of San Antonio, it's all done by them. We 7 don't even have to pay for the equipment, and in some 8 case what they're doing, the courts are, especially if 9 they're using it like instead of a weekend or program 10 where somebody goes to jail for 30 days but they put 11 them on the monitoring and let them do house arrest 12 under it, because they way they can go back and forth to 13 work and not lose their job, but still under that 14 they're making the offender pay for it. So in certain 15 cases we may be able to make the offender pay the 750 a 16 day and not the County, but I think some of this 17 temporary to try and avoid as much as we can at $68.00 a 18 day of housing if we can budget some at 750 a day, I 19 think we'll be better off, and some of that may be able 20 to come from the bond issue, too until we get a budget, 21 but I think long term next year we really need to look 22 at budgeting some for that GPS monitoring for some of 23 those type case. I think it can be extremely useful in 24 this County. It's something we had never done before or 25 looked at, and this has forced us to look at it. 8 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Take a look at what 2 your net savings would be not housing them and -- 3 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Right now in our jail 4 it's costing us $50.11 to house an inmate a day. 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Say that again. 6 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: $50.11. 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So that's big savings. 8 But that's not -- that's not the marginal cost. I mean, 9 is that what it costs, the marginal cost for an inmate 10 or is that just taking everything divided by the number? 11 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: That's taking -- what I 12 used and divide it by the number of inmates by the 13 number of days, so you really don't lose a whole bunch 14 of that if you don't have them in jail because you still 15 got that budgeted -- 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Well, you will still 17 have air-conditioning and everything else, so the 18 marginal savings is not that much. 19 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Right. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But you will save in 21 the event that you have to take somebody down to the 22 emergency room. 23 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Sure. The other 24 counties what they're doing with the GPS monitoring is 25 doing that on there -- we had six pregnant ones in jail, 9 1 you know, last month, some of them high risk. Okay. 2 And just from the serious medical issue ones if they're 3 out on GPS monitoring it does not cost you on the 4 medical expenses. 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So there will be a 6 savings. 7 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: To me it would be 8 useful for us to at least try it for upcoming year. 9 Now, the difference is if they abide by our monitoring 10 and with the way the Court system is, like right now 11 housing out of County that will be 90 to 100 days. But 12 if you have them on GPS monitoring and it takes a year 13 to get to court they're on that monitor for a year if 14 they're abiding by it, you just can't put them back in 15 jail for no reason. So you'll be paying for it for a 16 year but you're not housing in the facility. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That's seven bucks a 18 day. 19 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: 750 a day or 950 a day, 20 depending on which -- 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Is that the deluxe 22 model or something? 23 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: No. 750 a day what it 24 does -- 25 MRS. STEBBINS: We need to talk about this 10 1 in the budget workshop since this is a contract. 2 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Let's just do the 3 housing contract that's on the agenda right now and 4 that's what I need to approved for Bell County. 5 COMMISSIONER REEVES: I make a motion to 6 approve the contract between Kerr County and Bell County 7 as outlined in the agenda and authorize the County Judge 8 to sign the same. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 10 JUDGE POLLARD: Been moved by Commissioner 11 Reeves to approve contract between Kerr County and Bell 12 County about housing prisoners, and to authorize the 13 County Judge to sign the contract with them, and the 14 County Attorney has seen the contract on it? 15 MRS. STEBBINS: Yes, Sir. 16 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: And it's also on Bell 17 County's agenda for this morning for their Judge to 18 sign. 19 JUDGE POLLARD: Is there any further 20 discussion, comment or question? There being none, 21 those in favor signify by raising their right hands. 22 It's four zero, unanimous. 23 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Thank you. 24 JUDGE POLLARD: That concludes the agenda 25 for the open session of the Commissioners' Court. 11 1 STATE OF TEXAS * 2 COUNTY OF KERR * 3 I, DEBRA ELLEN GIFFORD, Certified Shorthand 4 Reporter in and for the State of Texas, and Official 5 Reporter in and for Kerr County Commissioners' Court, do 6 hereby certify that the above and foregoing pages 7 contain and comprise a true and correct transcription of 8 the proceedings had in the above-entitled Commissioners' 9 Court. 10 Dated this the 18th day of August, A.D. 11 2017. 12 13 /s/DEBRA ELLEN GIFFORD Certified Shorthand Reporter 14 No. 953 Expiration Date 12/31/2018 15 * * * * * * 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25