SAN ANTONIO- Bexar County Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz says the county jail is terribly understaffed. Now, he and county leaders are one step closer to resolving an ongoing battle of the jail's staffing levels.
Sheriff Ortiz wants an independent consultant to review the jail manpower, overtime for detention officers, and housing inmates out of county. He made the announcement during a Monday morning press conference.
The Sheriff says while he may technically have enough beds to house more inmates, he is short 81 officers to look after them, adding that there are also other things to consider.
“Four thousand inmates is our total capacity. You have to reduce that because of classification. The number of gangs we have here in Bexar County, people that have communicable disease, we have homosexual units. We could never, never fill all 4,000 beds,” explained Sheriff Ortiz.
County Manager David Smith has said he is prepared to recommend that commissioner's court approve the study as long as the consultant is an expert in jail manpower, is truly independent, and has complete access to all information relevant to make a recommendation.
The county manager also wants a group comprised of his staff, the sheriff's office, and the county purchasing agent's staff to select the consultant as well as participate in the review.
