Accord allows county to transfer inmates to private facility

BROWNSVILLE — The Cameron County Commissioners’ Court on Friday approved a contract with LCS Correctional Services Inc. that will allow the county to transfer nearly 100 inmates to the company’s privately run detention center in Nueces
County.

The inmates will be transferred to LCS’ Coastal Bend Detention Center in Robstown, Gus Reyna Jr., chief deputy for the Cameron County Sheriff’s Department, said.

Although transferring the inmates to Brooks County had been mentioned earlier in the week, such a transfer was not correct, authorities said.

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.

Under a 1998 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 toward the cost of a new county detention center, Cameron County Detention Center No. 3.

The 15-year contract will expire in 2015.

Cameron County receives $36.35 per day from the federal government for every federal inmate held at a county facility. If it can maintain that 300-inmate figure, the county would receive $9,414.65 per day or more than $3.4 million per year for holding the federal prisoners.

As of late this week, the county had 76 federal inmates in its county jails. However, the federal government wants a guarantee that 300 beds are available for federal inmates at all times.

In the past, the county has had to transfer some of its federal inmates to other counties to make room for its own inmates.

Although the county will pay LCS $48 per day per inmate, the cost is lower than what the company usually charges, Lucio said on Friday.

The company wanted to initially charge the county $60 a day per inmate, but Lucio said he was able to negotiate a lower price. In addition, LCS agreed to help with inmate transportation and will also provide non-major medical care, Lucio said.

“We thought that was good,” the sheriff said.

Cascos said the difference of what the federal government pays Cameron County and what it will pay LCS means the county will lose about $12-$13 a day per inmate.

He added that although the county will pay LCS $138,000 every month, this actually translates into about $34,000 per month once the difference of what the federal government pays the county to house federal inmates is calculated.

About 96 inmates were transferred Friday afternoon and they will remain at their new location in Robstown until construction of an addition to the Carrizalez-Rucker Detention Center is completed, which is about nine to 10 months away. The addition will provide an additional 356 beds at Carrizalez-Rucker. Once those additional beds are available, the county expects to discontinue prisoner transfers to Robstown.

Cameron County has 1,422 beds in its four county jails.