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Jim Wells commissioners table plan to end inmate-transport contract after sheriff warns of higher costs and staffing risks
Summary
After an extended exchange with Sheriff Joseph Baker about costs, staffing and liability, the Jim Wells County Commissioners Court voted to table a proposal to terminate the county's contract transport service with Sunrise FSB and asked a multiagency committee to meet and return with alternatives by March 7.
Jim Wells County Commissioners Court on Feb. 13 tabled a proposal to give 30 days' written notice to terminate the county's contract transport service with Sunrise FSB after Sheriff Joseph Baker warned that ending the contract without a replacement plan would increase costs and strip deputies from patrol and jail duties.
Baker, who said he filed a packet with statutory duties, cost comparisons and staffing-impact memoranda, told the court that contract transports are the lower-cost option in most cases. "Terminating the contract increases cost. It does not reduce cost," he said, citing a cost-analysis that shows county in-house transports average about $1,300…
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