Bowie County Commissioners continue to outfit jail team

NEW BOSTON, Texas — Eight jail administrative personnel members will be provided cell phone service to help them manage two Bowie County lockups starting next month.

Bowie County Commissioners agreed Monday to provide Jail Administrator Joseph Wilson, Assistant Administrator Robert Page, Maj. Eric Nelson, Security Captains Sherdona Walker and Nathaniel Johnson, Administrative Security Lt. Paul Magee, Maintenance Supervisor Albert Cantu and Transportation Sgt. David Alexander with cell phone service.

These administrators will be supervising both the county’s 748-bed Correctional Center as well as the Bi-State Justice Center’s 164-bed jail.

LaSalle Corrections, a private company that’s managed Bowie County’s Correctional Center and Bi-State Jail for several years, will be withdrawing once its current contract expires Feb. 12.

Bowie County Sheriff Jeff Neal said Robert Page the assistant jail administrator, has prior experience in county jail operations, since he helped the county operate the correctional center back when the county initially operated the center late 2001.

Prior to his first job with the county, Page served as the Miller County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy. There he also helped Miller County reopen it original 1939 Jail atop the county’s courthouse back in 1991 — when Miller County withdrew from the Bi-State Justice Building.

In other business, court members agreed to allow county employees to participate in a Texas Association of Counties Wellness Health Plan for one year —with the option of participating longer if desired.

Commissioners also approve request from the Bowie County Tax AssessorCollectors Office to contract with the Dallas-based Certified Payments credit card vending firm in order to provide county residents with a reduced interest rate on credit card usage fees. The move will allow for the current fee interest rate to drop from 3.5 % to just slightly more then 2.3%.

Bowie County Judge Bobby Howell said progress continues to be made on recovering from the Dec. 6 cyber-attack. He said that both the county and Texarkana, Texas, will issue a joint statement later this week.

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