Mold remains an issue for downtown El Paso County jail
The downtown jail is one step closer to being mold-free.
Three months ago El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles told the county a mold issue had arisen in the downtown jail. Since that initial news broke, four floors of inmates have been sent to jails outside of the county’s system.
Years ago a deal was struck with the U.S. Marshal’s Office for El Paso County to house federal prisoners. Under the current agreement the county is paid $70 per day. Shutting down four floors in the jail nearly 10 days ago has the county missing out on an estimated $31,500 a day.
Money from housing federal prisoners is typically used to offset the higher cost of housing El Paso inmates awaiting trial. If a jailor can watch 48 prisoners and only 22 are housed on a floor the additional federal inmates would be housed on the floor to offset the cost to the county. Right now, that practice is on hold as mold remediation work is being prepared.
On Thursday a ServPro truck was parked behind the jail. Workers were busy taking equipment into the jail and prepping for mold cleanup slated to begin Saturday. Wiles told ABC-7 that he expects the project to take 14 days.
“So we’ve got about half the capacity right now,” said Wiles. “That jail holds about 1,000 prisoners so there are around 500 people in there now.”
According to Wiles, all is not lost. Numbers aren’t available now, however, he’s hoping that some of the lost revenue is recouped from fewer meals, less water and fewer needs tied to a smaller population while work continues.
“We are still holding some federal prisoners at the jail annex,” said Wiles. “However, on the other side of that there are some savings with that overtime that drops.”
Wiles said fewer people are needed to work in the jail right now. Meanwhile, the county’s work continues to progress in east El Paso tied to a jail annex extension.
