WOODVILLE – On Monday, the Tyler County Commissioners Court approved an interlocal agreement with Angelina County to house inmates.
Tyler County Sheriff Bryan Weatherford said that, at present, there are factors that have necessitated having to house inmates elsewhere. Currently, the county has an agreement with the Beauregard Parish Sheriff in De Ridder, LA. The Angelina County Jail agreement comes to $75 per inmate, per day, while the agreement with the Louisiana facility is for $60 per inmate, per day. Weatherford said it is, overall, a better deal to sign the contract with the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office, due to the closer proximity. He said that aside from the four-hour round-trip to Beauregard Parish to carry inmates for booking, TCSO personnel are also having to make frequent trips to bring inmates back and forth to court.
One of the problems facing the Tyler County Justice Center to limit its number of inmates is the facility’s age, Weatherford said. Tyler County is limited in the number of female inmates it can hold, per the State Jail Commission’s standards. At present, there are eight female inmates in the Tyler County jail.
The Angelina County agreement guarantees 20 beds, and with that agreement, Tyler County will be able to house more male inmates, Weatherford said.
“We are in a supply and demand mode right now, and demand is high,” Weatherford said. He noted that there was an increase in crime throughout 2025, “a year like I’ve never seen,” he said. Also, the Angelina County Jail has been recently added onto.
That trend has been a statewide concern, Weatherford added, as he’d been in communication with fellow sheriffs across the state on the matter.
“Usually we see a roller-coaster trend with arrests, but right now, it’s just a steady incline,” he said.
