Potter County's jail is once again operating beyond its capacity, and county leaders say the problem isn't going away anytime soon.
Jail overcrowding dominated discussion during a recent Potter County Commissioners Court meeting, where Sheriff Brian Thomas told commissioners the inmate population has climbed past the number of beds available at the detention center. While the county has relied on contracts with other facilities to ease the burden, officials agreed a permanent solution will eventually be needed.
As of Monday morning, Thomas said the jail housed 603 inmates.
"We can hold 599," Thomas said. "That's how many beds I have. That doesn't mean I can hold 599. That means that's how many beds I have."
The sheriff said that number can be misleading because not every bed is available for every inmate. Housing assignments depend on factors such as security classification, gender and mental health needs, leaving some beds unavailable even when the jail appears to have space.
"There's lots of things that we have to look at to see where we can put," Thomas explained. "So that limits our numbers. Even at 599, we could never ever use 599. And then we have lots of individual cells that are for our mental health patients, and we have them in certain areas."
The detention center has been dealing with overcrowding for some time. As previously reported, the Potter County Detention Center failed a state inspection in May 2025 because of overcrowding. Thomas said he recently spoke with the former jail inspector, who has since been promoted to assistant director, to ask what could happen if the jail fails another inspection.
"They would drop us down from that 80 to either 60 or 70%," Thomas said. "And that's a huge number especially when you're looking at 603 this morning while I walked in there. That's a lot of people."
A lower operating capacity would force the county to find space for even more inmates outside Potter County, increasing both logistical challenges and costs.
Thomas said this summer's inmate population has grown for several reasons. Along with the seasonal increase in crime that law enforcement agencies often see during the warmer months, he pointed to Operation Summer Shield and changes to Texas bail laws as contributing factors. During the meeting, 47th District Attorney Jason Herring also discussed the impact new bail laws are having on the local jail population.
Commissioner John Coffee said keeping dangerous offenders off the streets remains the county's top priority, but he acknowledged that overcrowding cannot be ignored forever.
"We've got some great law force officers and first responders out there doing their job and taking some of these people off the streets," Coffee said. "And that absolutely needs to happen, and we need to protect our citizens, and I'm certainly behind that. that we've got to figure out a way, though, that if we're going to build a jail or at home, we have to navigate that and get that figured out pretty soon. And that will have to happen. It's just what the cost is going to be. And so, it's a quandary. It really is. But it's necessary."
The county already contracts with several facilities to house inmates when the Potter County jail runs out of room, but Thomas questioned whether expanding the current building would even be practical.
"You have to realize my jail is 30 years old," Thomas said. "So, it never stops. So, it's really 90 years old. And the agenda item with the contractors who fix the air conditioning stuff, they're the only ones that would build on it because they're the only original people that put it in. Everybody else said it's too old. We're not working on it. We can't find the parts. And that's a big deal."
Thomas also reminded commissioners that while he is responsible for operating the jail, state law makes the county responsible for providing a facility that meets state standards.
"Their job is they have to provide the jail, period," Thomas said. "That's their only thing that they have to do. That's not my decision. They're not my deal. They have to do that. They can't tell me how to run my jail. They can't tell me how to use my money in my jail or anything like that. But they do have to provide the deal. And that's why we bring them the numbers every quarter."
For now, Potter County continues to rely on outside housing contracts to manage the overflow. But with inmate numbers remaining above capacity and the possibility of stricter state limits if the jail fails another inspection, commissioners are running out of time to decide whether the future lies in expanding an aging facility or building a new one.
