Cameron County sheriff decries lack of funding

Cameron County Sheriff Eric Garza took Commissioners Court and County Judge Eddie Trevino to task Thursday for reducing the number of deputies assigned to courthouse security and freezing jailer salaries, saying the moves amount to “de-funding the sheriff’s office.” “Our detention officers and deputies are some of the most underpaid in the country and Commissioners Court refuses to give them a pay raise,” Garza said at a morning news conference. “The lack of a livable wage is causing our jail to be critically understaffed, even with our efforts to keep the inmate population down.”

The sheriff said Hidalgo County is paying detention officers from $35,000 to $37,000 annually and Bexar County in San Antonio $40,000, in addition to stipends for experience and having a degree, resulting in Cameron County being unable to retain jailers. “We’re paying $30,000. You go to Bexar County, they’re paying $40,000 and $42,000, and giving $2,000 bonuses to have our people come and apply to be deputies in their county in San Antonio,” Garza said. “We can’t compete.” Garza said the Texas Commission on Jail Standards requires the county to maintain a required ratio of jailers to inmates to protect both populations. Due to the lack of jailers, he said he had no choice but to stop housing federal inmates to stay in compliance and avoid being shut down. He said Commissioners Court had reduced sheriff’s office staffing by 55 positions and cut the number of detention officers assigned to courthouse security from 15 to seven. The sheriff’s department has been at the forefront of efforts to balance the county budget after Commissioners Court learned the department had dished out $1 million in overtime pay in addition to $1.9 million to feed inmates housed in the county’s jail facilities.