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Commissioners aim to reduce inmate population with new bond officer

The Hays County Commissioners Court approved an additional Pretrial Bond Offcer position after a 440% increase in pretrial bond case load since February.

Hays County currently partners with Community Supervision and Corrections Department (CSCD) to provide two pretrial bond offcers and recently the Criminal Justice Commission, Pretrial Services Subcommittee recommended adding a third offcer, which was approved Tuesday.

The Pretrial Bond Program already added a second new offcer in 2019 to accommodate for an increase in cases from the creation of the program in 2016. The program began with 59 pretrial defendants in December of 2016 and increased to 175 in December of 2019.

The pretrial bond offcers work to reduce the inmate population by identifying inmates that can be released on Personal Recognizance Bonds based on their likelihood to commit other crimes and their likelihood of them to show up in court.

In just 2020, their caseload increased from 198 pretrial defendants in February to 870 in September; a 440% increase in 8 months, and a 1,374% increase in nearly four years.

Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe, a member of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Commission, said, “I was very shocked at how quickly those numbers went up. Another bond offcer will help us identify those that are eligible for bond and help get those services to them.”

Hays County Deputy Director of Adult Probation Lisa Pacheco said some of the increase was due to COVID-19, but that the county was working hard to create new positions and new programs to reduce those numbers.

“We have many new positions where everyone is working hard to reduce the inmate population,” Pacheco said. “The new indigent defense coordinator, the magistrate’s offce. We added a bond offcer last year ... Everyone is coming together to meet the same goals.”

The fiscal year 2021 budget already accounted for an additional offcer which would bring the total for the program to $175,080 for 2021.

In other business, the commissioners voted to amend the Hays County Purchasing Policy to formalize federal requirements in all formal solicitations for purchases over $50,000. They also discussed having a workshop in next Tuesday’s commissioners court meeting about purchasing and procurement.

They also approved purchasing 13 in-car camera systems from Axon Enterprises, Inc. for the sheriff’s offce’s In-Car and Body-Worn Camera Program, as approved in the fiscal year 2021 budget at $41,613 for one year, or $122,109 for a five-year term.

The commissioners authorized the issuance of the “Hays County, Texas, Special Assessment Revenue Bonds, Series 2020 for the La Cima Public Improvement District Neighborhood Improvement Areas”. They approved an authorized, “an indenture of trust, a bond purchase agreement, a limited offering memorandum, a continuing disclosure agreement, an amended and restated service and assessment plan, and other documents in connection therewith.”

A total $9.345 million special assessment revenue bond was sold as interest rates are lower, 4.11% compared to the initial 7%, and more investors are buying bonds. This bond does not carry any support from the county’s tax base.

The county also approved an Advance Funding Agreement for Voluntary Local Government Contributions to the SH 21 at FM 1966 Safety Improvement Project, reducing the cost of construction by $300,000. The project is part of the Hays County 2016 Road Bond Program that improves safety and mobility for local traffc conditions at the intersection.

Texas Department of Emergency Management continues to provide free COVID-19 testing in partnership with Curative, who are transitioning mobile vans throughout Hays County where needed.

Wimberley View

P.O. Box 49
Wimberley, TX 78676
Phone: 512-847-2202
Fax: 512-847-9054