Commissioners’ Court: Overtime Costs Mount At County Jail

At last Tuesday’s Commissioners’ Court Meeting, a particular line-item transfer caught the attention of this reporter. The Court moved $100,000 to cover overtime pay costs for employees at the county jail.

During an office interview with Judge Carter in January, he spoke about staffing levels at the jail, and the challenges of attracting and retaining employees for the county, in general.

“I think we’re lacking a few deputies now, because we’ve seen some lateral moves from the Sheriff’s Office over to (San Angelo) city police. So we’re not at 100-percent at the deputy level. There’s several positions open at the jail.

“The jailers are absolutely lacking in personnel out there,” he said. “They’re able to get the job done — don’t get me wrong —  we have an outstanding group out there. But the more we can get towards being fully staffed, the better.”

Jail Staff Shortage Is About More Than Money

According to Judge Carter, overtime at the county jail, while financially rewarding for employees, also places undue stress on them, and he pointed out that full staffing is essential for jails to function as designed.

Carter said local officials have put a lot of effort into making county careers more attractive to potential employees, and — very importantly — toward retaining the employees they already have.

“There’s a balancing act between the two; between recruiting and  maintaining employees at a rate where we can give the raises we need to maintain our employees, because the last thing you want to do is spend taxpayer dollars training an employee just for them to leave, and go elsewhere.

“So if you pay them adequately, they want to stay here.”

Carter said lateral personnel moves between the Sheriff’s Office and Police Department have always been a challenge for the county. He thinks it may be worth looking into ways to make deputies’ compensation packages more comparable to SAPD.  

“We don’t really want to compete within our own community,” he said. “For instance: Somebody gets good and settled-in at the sheriff’s office… They know that role exactly. It takes a lot of time and training to get someone new up to that level when deputies leave.

With 151-years in business, Tom Green County is the oldest employer operating within the county. It offers stable employment with plenty of benefits.

County Employee Benefits

“The benefit side is where we’ve really incentivized people to maintain employment,” Carter said. “Historically, where the salaries may have been lacking, we have a good benefits package to help our employees. That’s why we see several 30-year employees, or 20-year employees. And that’s big. It’s very big.”

Judge Carter said the county currently has positions open in several departments, ranging from jobs at the jail to litigators in the District Attorney’s Office.

County employment comes with several paid holidays each year, benefits include:

• Medical/Dental insurance for employees at no cost to the employee
• $25,000 life and accidental death & dismemberment insurance for employees at no cost
• Low-cost vision insurance
• Paid vacation and sick leave
• A retirement plan
• Cafeteria Plan
• Workers compensation insurance

A court reporter for a local district court earns a minimum salary of $3,887.73, which would be a tad over $46,650 annually.

A deputy sheriff earns at least $2,019.23, or $24,230.76 per year.

There are also advertised positions open for Juvenile Supervision Officer II; Facilities Maintenance Tech II; County Clerk II, and for an IT Department Technician.

To learn more about current job openings with Tom Green County, or to apply, follow this link.

In Other Commissioners’ Court Business

TGC Treasurer Diana Spieker provided the Court with the fiscal-year first-quarter investment report from her office, noting that property taxes are just starting to roll in.

“As we expected, interest rates are going down,” she told Commissioners. “About (one) basis-point; possibly two, or somewhere around there.

“One thing I want to call your attention to… 14 of our CD investments got called early; I knew when I purchased them that there was that possibility, but the interest rate at the time was too good to pass up.

“But it’s not a detriment to us,” she said. “It just means we got our money a little-bit earlier.”

Spieker touched briefly on a few more items, noting that some timely investing had recently netted the county about $18,000 in a single month.

Grant Resolutions Adopted

The Court adopted a resolution in support of the application for the fiscal-year 2026 BG Rifle Resistant Body Armor Grant Program. The grant is for the purchase of new specialized plates that will re-armor 65 existing vests for Sheriffs Office personnel. Another resolution was also passed for the FY 2026 Victim Of Crime Act (VOCA) grant for continuation of the Victim Witness Assistant position in the District Attorney’s Office.

Major Renovations

At the meeting the Commissioners Court also approved Work Order 134289.00 in the amount of $685,887.39 with Mid-Tex of Midland to renovate the north area restrooms in the 100-year old courthouse.

Purchasing specialist Darin Schell told the Court the project was very complex. The work will have to take place while regular operations are ongoing in the building. He said construction will involve weekend work, and they have talked about possibly closing on Fridays to speed things along.

Judge Carter noted that the project has been deferred for a long time, and probably won’t be finished until sometime around year’s end.

A Very Brief Public Hearing

The Court briefly recessed the regular Commissioners Court meeting to reconvene officially, in accordance with state statutes for a brief public comment hearing. The hearing was regarding Order Designating the Reinvestment Zone known as the Tom Green County Cold Creek Solar Reinvestment Zone No.1. Two people in attendance spoke during the hearing.

Judge Carter told attendees that this solar farm project is located primarily in Schleicher County, with just a little bit overflowing into southern Tom Green County. It is projected to generate 140 megawatts on 1,100 acres in Precinct 4. The project falls within the boundary of Christoval ISD.

Whitney Rubin, a representative for the Cold Creek solar project, told the Court that the projected output of the solar array is 90-112 Mw. He added that some construction phases may see between 150 and 300 workers, along with a permanent position as well.

Reporter’s Note:

Although it rarely makes its way into news reports, Tom Green County Commissioners Court — like almost every public meeting in Texas — opens with a brief invocation. The pledges of allegiance to the United States, and the Texas flag follow.

Last week Pct. 1 Comm. Ralph Hoelscher led the prayer, asking everyone to please bow their heads.

“We ask, Lord, that you provide guidance to this Commissioners Court as they make decisions that will affect all the people of Tom Green County,” he prayed.

“We’re very thankful for the rainfall we’re receiving,. But we’d really like to see these drops get a little bigger, and closer together, and rain for a while, which really would be beneficial for us right now, particularly in agriculture, where they’re trying to get some grass growing in the pastures, and — pretty soon — we’re going to need some more water in these reservoirs… so, maybe that’ll happen in May.

“We do ask for world peace,” he continued. “With everything so critical now, we just need to live, and to let everybody live together.

“We thank you, and we ask for good health and safety for all the workers of the County. All this we ask in Christ’s Holy Name. Amen.”

Then, later in the meeting, with misty skies outside and a slight chance of rain remaining in the forecast, commissioners opted to take no action on the countywide burn ban, which remains lifted.

Attend a Meeting

Tom Green County Commissioners Court meetings take place every Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. in the second-floor Commissioners Court room of the Keyes Building,  113 W. Beauregard Ave. in downtown San Angelo.

To see what’s on the agenda this week, follow this link.