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Hays County pretrial services reports 588 releases in 2024 and estimates $817,000 in jail-bed savings
Summary
Judicial services director Jason Facundo told commissioners the pretrial services program supervised 588 defendants in 2024, recorded an 89% court-appearance and arrest-free success rate and calculated approximately $817,220 in avoided jail-bed costs.
Hays County Director of Judicial Services Jason Facundo briefed the court on Feb. 11 on the department's first full year of operations, reporting releases, monitoring data and cost savings tied to the new pretrial program.
Facundo said pretrial staff provided investigative interviews at the jail, completed risk assessments and supplied judges with reports to support pretrial release decisions. In 2024, the office assisted in the release of 588 defendants on pretrial supervision: 232 on personal bonds with conditions and 356 released via cash-surety bonds. Of the 232 released on personal bonds, 116 scored minimum-to-low risk, 32 moderate risk and 84 high risk on the office's assessment.
Key operational figures and outcomes - Pretrial caseload: averaged 49 new clients per month in 2024; total served 816 clients. - Pretrial testing: 862 drug tests administered; 647 negative and 182 positive. - Release outcomes: 89% of supervised clients appeared at court and 89% remained arrest-free while supervised. - Financial impact: Facundo calculated an estimated $817,220 in avoided jail-bed costs in 2024 by personal-bond releases and other measures. In addition, a county GPS-monitoring contract reduced monitoring costs from about $11.50 per day to $3.00 per day, producing about $41,310 in savings for county-funded devices in 2024. - Fee collection: the office began collecting supervision fees in June 2024 and reported $25,193 collected from June through December.
Facundo also described other services the department performs, including monitoring pretrial diversion and supervising conditions such as alcohol monitoring and GPS. He told the court the office is staffed seven days a week to conduct jail interviews and prepare pretrial reports for judges.
Why it matters: court members praised the department's use of risk assessment and electronic monitoring to safely reduce jail population and lower costs. Judge Becerra and commissioners noted the program's role in returning inmates to the community and reducing out-of-county incarceration.
Ending: Facundo thanked staff and other criminal-justice partners for collaboration and asked for continued court support as the program grows and refines supervision tools and funding arrangements.
