Erath County holds budget workshop; officials weigh two jail positions, records storage and new state mandates

Erath County Commissioners Court opened a public hearing on the 2025–26 budget and then moved into a budget workshop Sept. 3 in Steamboat, where elected officials and department heads discussed adding two jail positions to handle an expanding records workload, reclassifying a county rural program position and estimate changes for payroll and certification pay.

The discussion matter-of-factly centered on staffing and administrative costs. County staff described an expanding volume of inmate records—“probably in the inmates section alone, we have over 10,000 files”—and said new state laws that took effect Sept. 1 will increase paperwork. Court members asked staff to quantify payroll and software costs and returned repeatedly to how personnel changes would fit in the proposed budget.

The county discussed adding two licensed jailer positions whose primary duties would remain…