BY AUBREY VOGEL
What else?
Looking ahead
The Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office is also experiencing shortages in its detention staff for the county jail. The shortages have caused employees to work mandatory overtime hours, including an extra shift, to ensure the jail is meeting its state-mandated staffing, Sheriff Eric Fagan said. “The staffing at the sheriff’s office in the past five years has never been like it is now; it’s never been this drastic,” he said. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards, the state’s regulatory agency, requires a staffing ratio of one staff member for every 48 inmates. The county’s staffing rate supports 578 inmates, although the inmate population fluctuates between 900-950, FBCSO Assistant Chief Deputy Manuel Zamora said. To reduce the stress of overtime on employees, FBCSO officials asked Fort Bend County commis- sioners to either: • Increase detention staff pay and benefits by 11% to 15%
Local departments have increased recruitment efforts to fill rosters by changing marketing and attending more career fairs, officials said. With so few recruits coming in, it will take some time to rebuild and expand the number of law enforcement officers in the state, Owen said. The average police academy takes five months to complete with some departments having academies that last over a year. In the last two to three months, there has been a slight increase of more recruits enrolling in academies in Texas, Owen said. “With the sparked interest [and] the slight increase that we’ve seen over the last few months, we hope that maintains because, quite honestly, it could take years for us to get back to where we need to be,” he said.
Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office vacancies
Sworn personnel vacancies Communications personnel vacancies Detention personnel vacancies
37
26
43
2023 2024
41
28
48
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
NOTE: ALL NUMBERS ARE AS OF JULY 1. SOURCE: FORT BEND COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
• Enter into an agreement with a private correctional facility to manage 322 inmates for a three-year period for $10.57 million per year A decision has not yet been made by county staff and commissioners on how to address it, but Fagan said he hopes to see changes ahead of the fiscal year 2024-25 budget approval on Sept. 24.
Learn More
21
SUGAR LAND - MISSOURI CITY EDITION
Powered by FlippingBook