The Liberty County Jail is undergoing a dramatic shift following a remedial order issued by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. The order, delivered to the county on April 14, gives officials 15 days to comply with state standards or cease housing inmates in the facility altogether. As a result, Liberty County has begun the process of relocating inmates to other jails across the state.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, all correctional staff will remain employed. Liberty County Attorney Matt Poston said the decision to retain all jail staff is part of the county’s effort to remain compliant with the state’s directive but also because these employees are valued and necessary for future jail operations. As inmates are moved to out-of-county facilities, many local correctional officers are expected to be reassigned to assist with transportation.
Poston said it is likely that the Liberty County Jail will continue to be used as a temporary intake facility, at least in the near future. Inmates may still be fingerprinted and photographed at the jail before being entered into the system and transferred to another location.
“We are still trying to figure this out. This is new to us,” he said.
The closure order is rare, and Poston said he could not recall another instance in the last 20 to 30 years where the Commission shut down a county jail. He added that Liberty County is not alone in facing these challenges.
“I know we are not the only county struggling with our inmate population and facility. Every county has had inmate population struggles since COVID,” he said.
The current challenges can be traced, in part, to the pandemic-era court closures, which created a significant backlog of cases and delayed trials for months. This caused jail populations to swell across the state. At its peak, the Liberty County Jail housed approximately 260 inmates, with another 100 being held in outside facilities due to lack of bed space. As of this week, fewer than 100 inmates remain in the jail in Liberty.
While the jail’s closure appears imminent, Poston and Assistant County Attorney Kathrine McCarty said it may not have to be entirely vacated. The County hopes that if it can demonstrate significant progress in addressing the issues that led to the Commission’s order, the facility could potentially continue housing a small number of inmates.
“If we can show the Commission that we’re making great efforts to remediate the issues, it’s possible we will be allowed to continue housing a limited number of inmates,” McCarty said.
One of the biggest obstacles moving forward is housing inmates across multiple facilities.
“We run into issues with other facilities being overcrowded,” said Poston.
The Texas Commission on Jail Standards provides a list of approved jails that Liberty County can contract with, but these facilities can often take only a few inmates at a time. This creates a patchwork system where inmates are spread out across various counties, complicating family visits and access to legal counsel.
Poston said the logistics of managing inmates across multiple facilities present a real challenge.
“Trying to coordinate with defense attorneys and families when inmates are scattered all over the state is not easy,” he said.
The ripple effect could extend to local bonding companies, though Poston said the exact impact remains unclear. He expects that inmates will still be booked into the Liberty County Jail — fingerprinted, photographed, and entered into the system — before being transferred. Local bond agents would likely continue working with non-violent offenders to secure their release.
This situation may also open the door to expanding alternatives to incarceration.
“We’ve already been pretty good about working with pre-trial services to get non-violent offenders out of the jail,” said Poston. “I think the majority of the inmates being housed in our jail were violent offenders or have committed major crimes. Many are the worst of the worst, and they can’t be bonded out in the interest of public safety.”
When asked why the situation was allowed to reach this level of urgency, Poston emphasized that while the jail is operated by the sheriff, responsibility for the facility itself lies with the Commissioners Court.
“The jail is under the sheriff’s control, but the jail facility is ultimately under Commissioners Court,” he said.
Poston and McCarty were also asked how long the repairs might take. While they could not offer a precise timeline, they said that if the Commissioners Court agrees during its upcoming meeting to move forward with expedited purchasing procedures, repairs could be completed within a matter of months. The total cost is expected to exceed $5 million and will come from the county’s general fund.
Poston emphasized that this would not be a wasted investment, even if the county ultimately builds a new jail in the future.
“We won’t just lose that facility and its value. If it can be renovated, we might be able to use the old jail as a juvenile facility or for county offices,” he said.
The Liberty County Commissioners Court is scheduled to meet on Thursday, April 17, at 2:30 p.m., to consider and approve discretionary exemptions to Chapter 262 of the Texas Local Government Code, allowing the county to bypass the formal bidding process and move quickly on repairs outlined in the remedial order.
“Ultimately, our goal is to be in compliance and in good standing with the Commission,” Poston said. “This is an opportunity for us to do so.”
In my opinion, All I’m seeing is blame blame blame. I believe it’s INCOMPETENCE, along with unnecessary and illegal arrests that could have just been a ticket or warning (all to generate more revenue and creating more overcrowding), Laziness from the staff, cruelty to the inmates, which are people too btw, higher and higher ups not listening to the concerns of the citizens, families of the inmates and the inmates themselves. I KNOW that there’s so much more to list but know this, the truth will eventually come out and THE PEOPLE are beginning to see and that the justice system has been unjustly levied against us, but a shift is coming and the scales of justice will tip in OUR favor again. Remember, God laughs at the wicked, and you know what he will do, so I pray that everyone that holds power and authority in high places will repent, reflect, and start doing right by each other and be respectful, understanding, compassionate, forgiving and humane. We all have to do better for each other, our families, neighbors, and ourselves because this world has gotten so bad and greed, hatred, and narcissism has become an epidemic.
Surprised that overcrowding is an issue when the Liberty court system operates like a revolving door. There is never a shortage of releases with no to low bond felony offenders (one last year had 17 before sentenced to TDC).
I saw one that had a record since 1996 for some felonies and other serious crimes finally did a few months in TDC. Crimes committed in Cleveland, Dayton, Liberty and Liberty County two or three days in jail. And people voted for this. Wasn’t the SO fault either.
Less crowding could be eliminated by writing more tickets and less arrests for crimes such as riding a bicycle against traffic, no headlight, etc. police and S/O are arrest happy.