Published: October 01, 2008 01:39 am            

Jail revenues adding up to time well served

PALESTINE — Housing an average of more than 25 out-of-county inmates per day over the past few weeks, Anderson County has generated almost $20,000 in revenue through the housing of such inmates, according to local officials.

“We’ve got 27 out-of-county inmates and we’ve generated $19,516 since Sept. 8,” Anderson County Sheriff Greg Taylor said Tuesday morning. “We’ve had as many as 30 (out-of-county inmates on a given day).”

As of early Tuesday morning, the Anderson County Jail had a total population of 188, according to the sheriff.

All 27 of the outside inmates were being housed as part of a contract with Community Education Centers (CEC), formerly known as CiviGenics, which operates private jail facilities throughout the U.S., including ones in Groesbeck, Lufkin and Texarkana.

CEC is paying Anderson County $34 per day, per inmate.

Anderson County also has similar contracts with Smith and Houston counties, but those entities have not been housing any of their inmates in Palestine in recent months.

The Anderson County Jail — which includes the new and old wings — has a total of 305 beds.

“I’ve let them know we’ve got room if they need any beds,” Taylor said. “Their populations must be holding steady.”

Representatives of Freestone County and the Tyler city marshal’s office have also contacted Anderson County about the possibility of housing some of their inmates, but have not signed contracts to date, according to the sheriff.

Anderson County voters overwhelmingly approved a $10 million bond package in May 2005 which essentially called for the building of a new jail facility around the existing one on East Lacy Street.

In garnering support prior to the bond election, sheriff’s and county officials touted the possibility of housing some inmates from outside the county to offset some of the jail’s operating expenses.

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Paul Stone may be contacted via e-mail at pstone@palestineherald.com

        

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