Can Collin County reduce overtime costs by hiring dozens of new guards?

The Collin County Commissioners Court voted Wednesday on a budget recommendation that would add dozens of new corrections officers to the county jail. The jail is nearly full and understaffed, the sheriff said, driving up overtime costs in the county.

The region estimates that more than $2 million has been spent on overtime this year, much of it in prison.

County commissioners discussed adding funding for 41 new corrections officers and a proposed cap on overtime in the recommended general budget of about $3.1 million for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, during a budget workshop.

The county will finance the budget with a proposed property tax rate of $0.149 cents per $100 of a home's value, which is about the same as the current rate. However, many homeowners will still see their tax bill increase as the value of their home increases.

All four commissioners voted in favor of the proposed budget and tax rate. County Judge Chris Hill voted against it.

In his budget requests, Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner told commissioners he needs more corrections officers to keep up with the growing jail population. Skinner said there are about 1,200 inmates incarcerated at the jail and 83 inmates in facilities outside the county. The jail has a capacity of 1,298.

“We're in a situation where if a pipe breaks or the air conditioning breaks or something happens in the prison, from the prison's perspective, I have to put all those inmates on a bus and find a place to house them in West Texas or somewhere else,” he said.

The Collin County Jail is being expanded, which will also mean hiring more staff. Skinner said construction to expand the jail has increased security needs.

“If construction workers are going to break a hole in the wall of our prison, we need to secure those people,” Skinner said. “Once that security is in place, we have officers on call 24 hours a day, because the one thing we're not going to do is risk an escape.”

According to Skinner, the staff shortage is leading to an increase in overtime.

The sheriff cited several other reasons for the increase in overtime, including more uncooperative inmates. He said the felony rate in the jail has reached 92 percent, which has led to an increase in assaults on detention officers.

The county currently employs nearly 300 correctional officers, of which 28 are newly hired officers still in training and will not be ready until October.

The sheriff's office requested 70 additional detention officers in his county budget requests. Commissioner Duncan Webb proposed adding 41 detention officer positions and setting an overtime limit.

According to Webb, the policy is necessary to protect the province's budget.

“Once we hit the budget ceiling and there is no additional funding available at that point, our only option is to cut spending mid-year, which means laying people off,” he said.

According to Skinner, hiring more corrections officers will not eliminate the need for overtime altogether, but it will reduce it.

The Court of Commissioners is expected to adopt a final budget and tax rate for fiscal year 2025 on August 19.

Have a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.

Caroline Love is a Report for America corps member for KERA News.

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