Some Cameron County inmates could be transferred to Brooks County

The Cameron County Commissioners’ Court on Friday will consider approving a contract with a privately run detention center in Brooks County that would allow Cameron County to transfer nearly 100 inmates there.

The issue will be discussed during a special meeting of the Commissioners’ Court that begins at 10 a.m. on the second floor of the Dancy Building.

The inmate transfer is necessary for Cameron County to meet its commitment to the U.S. Marshals Service to provide space for 300 federal inmates in the county’s jail system, County Judge Carlos H. Cascos said, adding that he believes the contract will be approved.

Under a 1998 contract between Cameron County and the U.S. Marshals Service, the county agreed to provide space for 300 federal inmates at any given time in exchange for $3 million to help pay the cost of a new detention center, Cameron County Detention Center No. 3.

The contract is for 15 years and will expire in 2015.

The Intergovernmental Cooperative Agreement was signed by Eduardo Gonzalez, the former director of the U.S. Marshals Service, along with Hiram Arthur Contreras, the former U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Texas, Gilberto Hinojosa, a former Cameron County judge, and Sheriff Omar Lucio.

Cameron County receives $36.35 from the federal government per day for every federal inmate it houses in a county facility. If it were able to maintain that 300-inmate figure, the county would receive $9,414.65 per day or more than $3.4 million per year for housing the federal prisoners.

As of Wednesday, the county had 76 federal inmates housed in its county jails. However, the federal government wants to be guaranteed that 300 beds are available for federal inmates at all times.

In the past, the county has had to release some of its federal inmates to make room for county inmates.

County Administrator Pete Sepulveda Jr. said the county had initially planned to transfer the inmates to the East Hidalgo County Detention Center in La Villa. However, that option changed early this week after officials learned no space was available there. The next choice was the Brooks County facility in Falfurrias.

Cascos said it would be up to Lucio to decide which inmates would be transferred to the Brooks County Detention Center. The facility has 484 residential beds, according to its Web site.

Chief Deputy Gus Reyna Jr. said the county will transfer 96 inmates to the holding facility in Falfurrias and pay the facility $138,000 per every 30 days. These payments will likely continue until construction of an addition to the Carrizalez-Rucker Detention Center is completed, which will add more inmate beds there, Reyna said.

The inmates transferred would be those who don’t have cases that are immediately pending, Reyna said. The transfers should begin Friday, once the sheriff’s department receives Commissioners’ Court approval.

Cameron County has 1,422 beds in its four county jails. As of Wednesday, 1,297 were filled.