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Burns: recent peak days have exceeded Potter County jail capacity, forcing out‑of‑county placements
Summary
Consultant Kenny Burns told the court that while the jail's design capacity is 599 beds, recent month‑by‑month peaks in early 2025 rose above 600 and resulted in dozens of inmates housed out of county on peak days; Burns recommended validating peak counts with the jail commission and Amarillo PD arrest location data.
Kenny Burns told the court that the technical distinction between average daily population and peak population matters operationally: the jail design capacity (599 beds) can be exceeded on single worst‑case days, and it is those peaks that drive the need to send inmates out of county. Burns said the jail commission's 12‑month peak (as reported in its 2024 analysis) was 608, and his team documented even higher recent peaks in early 2025.
"Because you you can talk averages all day long, but on that peak day, you don't have enough space," Burns said, explaining that peak events — not averages — create operational shortfalls. Burns provided monthly peak snapshots for 2025: January (~607, 42 out of county), February (~630, 25 out of county), March (~637, 43 out of county), April (~612, 50 out of county) and May (~604, 41 out of county); June and July showed somewhat lower peaks near 585–596. Court members agreed more granular arrest‑location data from Amarillo PD is required to determine how many arrestees are booked in Potter versus Randall County.
