El Paso Sheriff’s Office Faces Crumbling Infrastructure

If the upcoming 2012 El Paso bond issue passes in July as expected, nearly $47 million will be earmarked for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.

That money will include $44 million for an expansion of the jail annex in east El Paso, and $3.5 million for an aging fleet of sheriff’s deputy cars.

Sheriff Richard Wiles, who is in charge of requesting money from the county, said he’s not asking for the moon. According to him, the Sheriff’s Office hasn’t seen a substantial amount of new vehicles in more than five years. During that time cars purchased in 1998 have taken a turn for the worse.

“We were really concerned, not only about the safety of our deputies, who use these cars every day under the worst circumstances, but we were worried about the public, too,” said Wiles. “If we lose a suspension and that car veers into oncoming traffic and kills a citizen, we don’t want to be responsible for that.”

While researching how many vehicles the Sheriff’s Office hoped the bond money would replace, Wile’s department discovered 15 vehicles that had to be taken out of service.

Not everyone supports the $110 million bond issuance. During the past several weeks, members of the public have chastised public officials for moving forward with the steps to issues the bonds in July.

Dan Haggerty, one of the five County Commissioners, has been the only Commissioner to regularly oppose the bonds, specifically the large sum of money being issued at one time. At times he’s questioned why the money couldn’t be issued as separate bonds over multiple years, pointing out previous bond money remains in bank accounts unspent.

“We’re paying $2 million a year on bonds we’re making $400,000 on,” said Haggerty. “You’re losing $1.5 million or $1.6 million annually on money you’ve borrowed you’re never going to use.”

Judge Veronica Escobar sees the issue differently. She has pointed out that interest is paid on bonds regardless if money remains in the bank or is already used. At times she’s made the argument that the infrastructure of the county has taken such a hit during recent years during a budget crisis that if money isn’t obtained to make fixes now it will cost more money in the long-term outlook.

Wiles said that’s the case for the jail annex expansion.

County auditors said census reports show growth expectancy in El Paso County. As the county grows, so does the need for a larger jail. If that data holds true, El Paso would need a larger jail, but Wiles said if they expand before the need they can recoup some of those costs by housing federal inmates, which the government pays $70 per day to do so.

In 2011, the county was paid $17 million for housing federal inmates; an amount that helped offset some of the $68 million it cost to running both the downtown jail and the El Paso County jail annex.

“Certainly our costs would be less if we didn’t house those 700 (federal) prisoners, but there would be a significant portion of that $17 million that would hurt the county to keep these jails operating,? said Wiles.

Even with the offset money earned through housing federal inmates, the downtown jail costs the county $120 per day to house inmates. The jail annex, due to its newer design, costs only $60 per day. Wiles hopes to inflate the number of federal inmates he can house in the coming years so the county can make more money through federal payments.

“We’re probably going to have that burden (of expanding the jail) anyway, by doing it now it allows us to bring in some income and reduce the cost by shifting the prison population,” said Wiles.