GROVETON — The continued employment of four jailers at the Trinity County Jail brought out passionate pleas for the employees as well as concerns for the state of the county coffers.
At the Aug. 26 meeting of the Trinity County Commissioners Court, jailers and county residents took turns pleading for the four jailers’ positions while blaming the court for the possible loss.
Both sides of the issue blamed poor communication for the current situation.
Last year, four jailers were hired because the Trinity jail received a variance to allow it to house 15 prisoners instead of the normal seven. In February of this year, the variance was rescinded by the State Jail Commission, citing a lack of progress on building a new jail.
At a special meeting earlier this month, commissioners questioned the need for the additional jailers since the variance was lost; the county is facing a shortfall in revenue was looking to trim expenses. At the recent meeting, Chief Deputy Jeremy Carroll challenged the court to look each of these people in the eye and tell them their jobs are in jeopardy.
“Explain to them why they are expendable due to your inaction,” he said.
County residents and jail staff took turns condemning the court perceived lack of action while urging them to take a stand for public safety and keep the jailers.
The court felt that it was moving in the right direction, since it called for a November bond election, but the Jail Commission felt otherwise. Commissioner Tommy Park told the full house that since he comes from a law enforcement background, the issue is dear to his heart; however, he also said that no one in the crowd has sat in a commissioner’s chair and didn’t understand what it took to keep the county afloat.
County Judge Danny Martin said that moving any faster on a bond election would have cost the county an additional $20,000.
Sheriff Woody Wallace said that it wasn’t the timing of the election that was an issue for the Jail Commission, that they just wanted proof the court was moving in the right direction; and should the bond issue pass in November, the variance would be back in place two days later.
Commissioner Mike Loftin reminded the crowd that the county started off its budget cycle $155,000 in the hole after a Forest Service grant was severely cut, and he also said that the court thought it was going in the right direction and that to say the commissioners did nothing is very wrong.
Loftin also pointed out that Wallace and the court did not communicate, and that Wallace himself stopped coming to court.
Wallace maintained that the personnel were necessary to run the jail properly, regardless of the budget; both Loftin and Park pointed out that if there is no money, they can’t continue to work. Park did say he had an idea of sharing the jailers with Polk County to keep them employed, but no one was willing to communicate about that.
In a related matter, the court approved the lease-purchase of vehicles from Wischnewsky Dodge and directed the County Auditor to secure financing. Commissioner Neal Smith pointed out that the Sheriff’s vehicles were getting additional miles being driven home by employees who live out of county; Wallace said he allows that because the court “won’t pay people what they make in counties around here,” so he allows it to help with employee retention.
“No matter what we do, it’s never going to be enough,” Smith said. “They’re abusing (them), running them 60-80 miles a day to get to the job.”
Wallace accused Smith of trying to run his office, and told Smith “you can’t control me, so now you’re trying to destroy me.”
Smith voted against the measure along with Loftin, and Martin broke the tie to approve the purchase.
Later in the meeting, the county voted to keep the current tax rate of .5539 per $100 valuation and set Sept. 23 for a public hearing to adopt the tax rate and 2025-26 budget.
In other business, commissioners:
