Department: County Administration
Department Head/Elected Official: Diana Ramirez, County Administrator
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Policy
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request for discussion and possible action regarding Harris County jail population, staffing, conditions, and other issues.
end
Background and Discussion:
On June 25, 2024, Justice Innovation briefed the Commissioners Court on key drivers and priority populations within the jail and made recommendations for solutions to explore.
The Commissioners Court directed Justice Innovation to work with OMB to identify funding of approximately $998,240 to:
• absorb the $645,000 in expired ARPA funding,
• add care coordinators and court liaison, who will streamline requests for resources from District Judges more quickly,
• add a psychiatric doctor and psychiatric nurse to FSPA to support effective medicine management for those on the State Hospital Wait List and those returning, and
• improve opportunities to maintain competency so that individuals can see quicker disposition of their legal cases.
Justice Innovation has worked with OMB and the above request has been entered in the budget portal for consideration in the FY25 budget.
Additionally, Justice Innovation worked with OMB to ensure that approximately $200,000 could be identified to bridge the remainder of FY24, as ARPA funds expired on June 30, 2024. OMB has included this $200,000 in its list of supplementals to be considered during the Q3 budget projection on the 8/6/2024 Commissioners Court.
Expected Impact:
Centralization of all forensic jail detention inmates with competency factors under a single umbrella. The centralization provides both an economy of scale and increases the likelihood that individuals returning from the state hospital can be kept competent through the completion of their court cases by providing therapeutic and competency restoration education services. Additionally, the increased therapeutic resources for individuals awaiting beds at the state hospital can mean less time to complete restoration programming at the state hospital.
Alternative Options:
Alignment with Goal(s):
X Justice and Safety
_ Economic Opportunity
_ Housing
_ Public Health
_ Transportation
_ Flooding
_ Environment
X Governance and Customer Service
Prior Court Action (if any):
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
06/25/2024 |
18 |
Directed OCA to work with OMB on funding for JBCR/FSPA by August 6 court. Directed OCA to work with District Courts to evaluate a full-time/fully resourced Competency Docket by September 19. |
|
04/05/2024 |
29 |
No Action |
|
03/26/2024 |
28 |
No Action |
|
02/27/2024 |
16 |
No Action |
|
12/19/2023 |
24 |
No Action |
|
10/31/2023 |
419 |
Direct OCA to prepare a standing jail item for the agenda and work with HRRM and HCSO on a Detention Officer pay scale that improves retention |
|
11/14/2023 |
13 |
First standing item: Request for discussion and possible action regarding Harris County jail population, staffing, conditions, and other issues. Direct OCA to prioritize the length of stay analysis, Detention Officer retention, and a particular focus on those charged with murder. |
|
12/05/2023 |
11 |
To have VSD, County Courts, Justice Stakeholders, OCA, and the Budget Office consider a Veterans Docket, Domestic Violence Docket, Mental Health Docket, and other specialty courts based on the framework of the existing RIC Docket and for an update at the first quarter of 2024. |
Location:
Address (if applicable):
Precinct(s): Choose an item.
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Anticipated Court Date: August 6, 2024
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date):
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Diana Ramirez, County Administrator, Office of County Administration; Tonya Mills, Managing Director - Justice Innovation, Office of County Administration
Attachments (if applicable): PowerPoint (separate cover)