Department: County Administration
Department Head/Elected Official: Diana Ramirez, County Administrator
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Discussion Item
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:
Harris County Commissioners Court and the Sheriff's Office have been working together over the past several years to address various issues at the county jail, ranging from changing inmate/defendant demographics to Detention Officer attrition rates. In addition, Commissioners Court has made multi-million dollar investments in the criminal justice system to fund diversion programs, a broader range of support services, and various improvements to the physical infrastructure and employee pay.
On October 31, 2023, Commissioners Court adopted the following two motions that directed the Office of County Administration (OCA) to:
* have a standing jail item on the agenda for updates and actions to ensure expeditious progress on improving the jail conditions and reducing the jail population and
* work with HRRM and the Sheriff's Office to analyze the pay scale of detention officers to identify an appropriate scale to improve retention. The analysis should involve reviewing any studies already done related to this matter.
In the discussion of the two motions, Commissioners Court also indicated they wanted to see regular updates on the following three issues:
* Harris Health jail medical improvements,
* Joint Processing Center delays for lower-level, nonviolent offenses "referred" from HPD,
* Progress on Joint Processing Center additional hearin...
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