The cost of incarcerating criminals keeps rising for Hays County. Not only has the county already blown its 2010 budget for holding prisoners out of county, but repairs to the Hays County Jail are running about $200,000 higher than anticipated.
Hays County Judge Liz Sumter and Hays County Precinct 2 Commissioner Jeff Barton showed their differences last week in their appearance at the League of Women Voters debate. Sumter and Barton are contesting the Democratic nomination for Hays County judge in a March 2 vote.
Challenger Bill Huddleston came out firing against Hays County Sheriff Tommy Ratliff in the San Marcos Area League of Women Voters debate last week. Huddleston and Ratliff are competing in the March 2 primary election for the Democratic nomination.
The Hays County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) held retirement ceremony last week for Deputy Alvin Eugene (Gene) Pittman, who is leaving for force after almost 17 years. Ceremonies were held at Barton and Wallace Middle Schools, where he served as a school resource officer for the last eight years of his career.
Having acquired additional funding, Hays County officials are poised to proceed with restorations to one of its old jails, a 19th century, two-story limestone structure nestled in the Historic Dunbar District a few blocks from the courthouse square in downtown San Marcos. The Hays County Commissioners Court accepted a $25,000 grant Tuesday for the jail’s restoration from the Texas Historical Commission (THC), a state agency headquartered in Austin.
The Hays County Commissioners Court hopes to persuade the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) to revise an order to shut down the county jail’s kitchen. At the least, the commissioners could make the penalty moot by procedural means.
Hays County officials said last Friday that they met a 30-day deadline with a letter on that day to show the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) progress on bringing the county jail into compliance with state regulations. The TCJS indicated that it would accept a letter for the purpose of meeting the Oct. 31 deadline.
Hays County deputies and firefighters rescued a woman from a car that was overturned in water early last Saturday morning, then arrested her for driving while intoxicated (DWI).
Hays County commissioners voted unanimously last week to initiate an expenditure of $1,455,388 to avoid a possible closure of part or all of the Hays County Jail by state authorities.
The convoluted case of Shawn Nathan Shipman took another turn last week, when District Judge James F. Clawson Jr. denied Shipman’s Writ of Habeas Corpus. As a result, Shipman’s retrial will take place later this month. Shipman was granted a retrial after an assistant Hays County District Attorney alleged improprieties in his prosecution earlier this year.
