NEED FOR NEW JAIL TO BE STUDIED

Grayson County commissioners voted to pay someone to analyze the need for a
new jail in the county.

The Court agreed to pay Curtis Pulitzer $98,000 to meet with all of the
people who work within the justice system to analyze the way the county is
dealing with criminal justice issues and how that corresponds to the number
of people in the county jail.

The county paid Pulitzer to do a six-hour review of the system a few months
back. Based on the report on that visit, the Court decided to have him look
deeper at the system to see what can be done to alleviate some of the over
crowding.

Grayson County Sheriff Keith Gary said he had nearly 200 inmates when he
first took the post as the county's top cop. Now, he said, his office has
more than double that number on a routine basis. The county is currently
paying to house prisoners in jails in other counties. According to numbers
quoted during the meeting, the county paid $160,000 last month to house
prisoners in jails outside of the county.

"I am convinced that we are going to need a new jail," said Grayson County
Commissioner Johnny Waldrip. Waldrip said he would rather pay the $30
million to $40 million it will take to build a new jail than pay $1 million
a year to house prisoners out of the county.

Although Waldrip and others say they think the ultimate decision will be
that the county needs a new jail, everyone on the court was quick to point
out that they want community involvement in the decision.

Gary said there are people who will say that he is pushing the matter
before the Court because "I just want to build a new jail. ... That is not
the legacy that I want to leave."

Commissioner Gene Short said he wants to make sure that voters get a chance
to give a heads up or down on the matter.

Gary said no one can accuse county officials of "rushing" forward to build
a new jail because members of the justice system have been considering the
idea for more than four years.

"And this report (if approved) won't be ready until June or July," he said.

Grayson County Judge Tim McGraw said the study that the Court approved
Monday will look to see what can be done differently to cut the number of
inmates in the jail. That said, McGraw added, that he thinks those cuts,
should any be identified, will not add up to enough space to keep up with
the demand.

Commissioner Carol Shea asked Gary why it is that the number of people who
are in the county jail continue to go up at a faster rate than the number
of people who live in the county.

Gary said methamphetamine related crime is the reason for the large number
of people in the jail.

McGraw said the explosion in jail population is not a problem that is
singular to Grayson County. He said other counties all over the state are
facing the same issue.

Commissioner David Whitlock had to be called upon by the county judge
before he would give his opinion. But, when Whitlock did speak, he said he
thinks the whole matter would go away is the county could treat prisoners
the way he thinks they ought to be treated. He mentioned feeding them beans
and cornbread and cutting off fingers as examples of the way people ought
to be treated for breaking the law.

Whitlock said he is frustrated with the fact that people don't discipline
their children and those children then grow up to be problems with which
the county has to deal.

"I think it is a crying shame that we are going to have to pay someone to
come and tell us we are gonna have to build a new jail when we probably
(will)," Whitlock said.

Short said the actual problem is the Commission on Jail Standards that sets
the amount of space and supervision the county must set aside for each
prisoner. McGraw pointed out that the standards set aside for county jails
are much more strict than those for state or federal prisons.