Hays County Jail gets money for repair

HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) - Hays County Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to proceed with repairs for the crumbling Hays County Jail.

Initial cost for the repairs is estimated at $1.5 million.

A consultant gave the estimate on fixing the roof and floors, as well as other repairs, at the Commissioners Court scheduled meeting. 

The $1.5 million does not include all of the repairs.  The county still needs to assess costs to repair the plumbing system.

Additionally the county must still determine the cost to cater food or bring in a temporary kitchen while the jail kitchen is updated. 

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards threatened to close down parts of the facility if it is not brought up to standards, costing taxpayers thousands of dollars to ship inmates to other counties. Because of overcrowding, the county is already having to send about 30 inmates to facilities outside of Hays.

"This last year we spent between $250,000 and $300,000 of the county's money and paid it to another county to hold our inmates," said Hays County Sheriff Tommy Ratliff. 

However, overcrowding is the least of Ratliff's worries at the moment. The jail he inherited when he took office is falling apart. Outside of the building, you can see the foundation is shifting and there are cracks along the walls. Inside, there is mold on the walls, some of the toilet's don't work and the roof is leaking.

"When water runs, it can run 20 or 30 feet before it comes down," said Ratliff. "You can't find every single one because there is so many, so we just put buckets on the floor to catch the water."

The conditions are slightly better at the jail after the Texas Commission on Jail Standards inspected it in the spring. The county did some minor repairs, but when the commission's inspector came back in September, he still deemed the facility as below standard.

"A Band-Aid is a Band-Aid," said the commission's Executive Director Adan Muñoz. "It only serves as a temporary fix."

Muñoz said the commission's aim is to avoid liability and lawsuits inmates could file because of the conditions in which they are forced to live.