Harrison and Cass County Team Up to House Inmates

Harrison County officials have approved a measure to take in Cass County inmates at the jail in Marshall. The move promises to bring in more revenue for Harrison county and relieve some of the burden at the Cass county jail. Texas is one of the fastest growing states in the country, but with a growing population, comes more crime and the need for more jails. That's why Harrison and Cass county officials are teaming up to keep criminals off the street.

"This will provide a closer location for them, it gives them the ease to pick up their inmates and take them back and forth to court instead of having to drive 2 or 3 hours away," said Jay Webb with Harrison County Sheriff's Office. County officials say, the partnership to house Cass county inmates is mutually beneficial. With the new jail in Harrison county that was built in 2002, officials saw room for growth. Bringing in additional inmates will help pay for salaries for jail employees among other things. "It will pay for all types of expenses coming out of the general budget pertaining to the jail," Webb said. The contract says Cass will pay Harrison county between 35 and 41 dollars a day to house their inmates. Because their jail is overcrowded, this saves Cass county taxpayers a little money until they're ready to build a new jail.  Webb says, "This gives other counties around the opportunity to have a little income stream housing prisoners from other counties."

Cass county Sheriff Larry Rowe said, "Logistically, the Harrison county jail is closer than Gregg county, where we were housing our inmates prior to the new agreement. Harrison county inmate rates are also 5 dollars cheaper per inmate. This helps save Cass county tax payers additional funds."

Here's a breakdown of the contract requirements. If Harrison county houses 16 or more cass county inmates, cass county pays $35 dollars a day, per inmate. If there are 12 to 15 out of county inmates--that's $39 dollars a day. And if there are less than 12-- that costs Cass County $41 per inmate.