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Frio County approves GPS electronic‑monitoring pilot to reduce jail housing costs
Summary
The county approved a pilot agreement with EPS Monitoring to use electronic GPS monitoring for a limited set of inmates (medical needs, breadwinners, those unable to afford bond) while extracting program data for future procurement decisions.
Frio County Commissioners Court voted to approve a pilot GPS electronic‑monitoring agreement with EPS Monitoring intended to supervise a limited number of pretrial or medically vulnerable inmates outside the county jail.
Sheriff Mike Morris and Chief Salinas presented the proposal as a way to hold certain people accountable while reducing the county’s housing and medical costs. "This could be a possible way of still holding them accountable for the crime they’re suspected of having committed, but also removing some of that liability on us," the sheriff said, describing cost pressures for inmate medical care and housing.
County attorney reviewed the contract for legal issues and reported only a corrected item remained; no outstanding legal barriers were flagged. Commissioners discussed implementation details, data collection and the need for a formal protocol to define eligibility. The sheriff’s office said the program would initially use existing prisoner‑housing funds and that the pilot would be monitored and the data used to determine whether to competitively bid the service in the future. "If it’s a successful program, there’s no stopping us from requesting that this be put up to bid to multiple vendors," a sheriff’s representative said.
Commissioners moved to approve the agreement as a pilot; the motion passed on a voice vote. Commissioners asked staff to present a protocol and a responsible program lead before full launch and to consider establishing a separate budget line item if the program is expanded.
