Chief Pinkerton and jail leadership presented the Smith County Commissioners Court with FY-26 budget requests for the county jail and juvenile detention center, highlighting medical costs for special-needs inmates, transport workload and personnel shortfalls.

Pinkerton said the jail booked more than 8,000 inmates in 2024, drove roughly 212,837 miles on transports and recorded 41 "safety-on-staff" incidents in the year cited. He described a continuing need for transport capacity to move inmates to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and for local transports to court, hospitals and other counties.

Medical costs: Pinkerton provided detailed figures for high-acuity medical care. Between Nov. 21 and May 31 the jail had inmates with pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, cancer, hepatitis C, renal care requiring recurring dialysis, cystic fibrosis and other costly conditions. He said five inmates on HIV medications averaged about $21,007.44 per month for medications and cited one individual with a monthly medication bill of $27,000. The presentation tied that caseload to an increase in the jail medical-services budget.

Staffing and overtime: The jail asked to increase several operating lines: part-time staffing (requested rise from $150,000 to $275,000), overtime (requested increase to $250,000), and four new detention officers to improve inmate-to-officer ratios and relieve burnout. Pinkerton said the inmate-to-officer ratio was roughly 1:48 at the time of the presentation. He said additional positions would allow day-shift coverage in the new courthouse basement holding cells, give officers time for training and reduce forced overtime.

Other operating items: Pinkerton requested a $50,000 increase in the inmate meal budget citing a rise in food costs and noted that the county has served 855,080 meals in the jail and juvenile facility during the fiscal year-to-date. He provided revenue figures for 2024 including federal contract housing ($810,720), municipal contract housing, inmate telephone revenue and SCAB/SCAP grants (figures presented by the speaker).

Coordination with health partners: Commissioners asked whether local hospitals could serve long outpatient treatments (for example dialysis) while inmates were secured. Pinkerton described the current process: inmates are admitted to hospital rooms and guarded during stays; he said the jail already conducts inpatient transports but continues to study options with local medical partners. Commissioners and jail leadership also referenced a developing relationship with UT medical programs and the county's new medical school as possible sources for psychiatric support and mitigation of medical costs.

Discussion vs. action: No vote was taken. Jail leaders presented budget line items and answered commission questions about timing and contingency planning. Commissioners suggested pursuing partnerships and grant opportunities to offset large medical costs and flagged the need to evaluate multi-year staffing timelines.

Clarifying details: requested additional four detention officers; part-time increase of $125,000 (from $150,000 to $275,000); overtime increase to $250,000; inmate meal increase $50,000; two transport vehicles estimated $100,000 plus upfitting.