Fayette County Paying Rent at Other Jails

“Will the jail accept?” – it’s a question local law enforcement officers often ask dispatchers after pulling someone over and finding out they have a warrant for unpaid fines or not showing up to court.

That’s because, sometimes, the Fayette County Jail doesn’t have room. Chief Deputy Randy Noviskie of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office said the jail always keeps a few empty cells available for people who need to be confined such as violent criminals or people who are a danger to themselves or others.

“The Jail Commission allows to keep only so many people,” Noviskie said.

The Fayette County Jail was built in 1985 to house 45 inmates at a time. Crucially, the jail can currently house only four females, according to jail standards. That may have been adequate in 1985. But changes in society and crime have led to more female inmates today, which complicates housing them in the now 40-year-old facility. In addition, changes in jail standards since 1985 have resulted in a maximum capacity today of 43 inmates.

“As jails get fuller, that could be attributed to crime or inmates taking longer to work out their cases,” Noviskie said. “Misdemeanor court is twice a month and felony court is twice a month. You don’t get to go to court every time. The attorneys may reset dates.”

Even after inmates are sentenced to prison, they often sit in county jail for weeks or months at a time waiting until Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) places them into a prison facility.

“Right now, we have 13 people waiting to go to prison,” Noviskie said. “They’ve already been sentenced, and they’re waiting to go to TDCJ facilities.

When the population gets close to capacity, the County has to start housing inmates elsewhere, usually at the Lee County Jail.

“We have to make room for anything that comes in off the streets,” he said.

When the Record spoke with Noviskie earlier this month, he said 10 inmates were then being held in Lee County.

“We’re very fortunate that Lee County is right down the road,” Noviskie said. “I’ll give you another example – right now Hays County is housing inmates in Haskell County – picture that, north of Abilene.”

Some day, Fayette County will need to build a new jail.

When that time comes, it will likely cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.

Back in 2022, under then-County Judge Joe Weber, the Fayette County Commissioners Court looked into what it would take to build a new County Jail. At that time, the Texas Jail Commission estimated that the Fayette County Jail could remain functional through around 2035. During those discussions, District Judge Jeff Steinhauser advocated for a new Justice Center similar to the one that Austin County built a few years prior.

The Austin County Justice Center includes a district courtroom that’s located in the same complex as the jail. That configuration provides improved security since inmates don’t have to be transported across town for their court dates.

Three years ago, an architecture firm working with the County estimated that a new justice center for Fayette County would cost about $40 million.