Officials pick new jail-runner

Louisiana-based Lasalle to oversee management, operations; vote unanimous

NEW BOSTON, Texas—LaSalle Corrections will take over management duties at Bowie County’s two jails.

The Commissioners Court unanimously voted to award a management and operations contract to the company during a meeting Monday.

Before the vote, Sheriff James Prince said he was satisfied with

The agreement calls for the county to pay $46.50 per inmate per day for inmates at the Correctional Center and $39.25 per inmate per day for inmates in the Bi-State Justice Building jail.

LaSalle’s proposal. Under state law, approval from the sheriff is needed when counties contract jail services to a private company.

LaSalle will take over the Bi-State Justice Building jail and Bowie County Correctional Center from operator Community Education Centers in the next few weeks.

LaSalle is headquartered in Ruston, La., and has an office in Dripping Springs, Texas. It was one of three vendors to submit proposals to manage the jails after CEC notified the county in November it was terminating its agreement.

CEC is set to leave Feb. 13, but officials said they would stay in place until the transition is complete.

The agreement calls for the county to pay $46.50 per inmate per day for inmates at the Correctional Center and $39.25 per inmate per day for

inmates at Bi-State, based on a total population of 375 nonfederal inmates.

The amount includes medical and food services.

If the inmate population rises above 400, the amount for inmates at the Correctional Center drops to $44 per inmate per day.

LaSalle will operate the two lockups according to Texas Commission on Jail Standards requirements, and each party must give the other 60 days’ written notice if it intends to terminate the agreement.

The county has been paying $44 per inmate per day for fewer than 250 inmates at the Correctional Center and $20.50 per inmate per day at Bi-State if the population is 134 to 164 inmates.

Though CEC did not specify why it was terminating its management agreement, county officials have speculated it’s because the company wasn’t making money. CEC has managed the 748-bed Correctional Center since 2001 and the 164-bed BiState jail since 2004.

Before the vote, commissioners spent about two hours in closed session discussing the three proposals.

Once in open session, commissioners unanimously approved LaSalle as the preferred vendor, and then recessed from about 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. to allow time for the public to peruse the proposals.

The Bi-State jail is shared by the county and both sides of Texarkana, and Texarkana, Texas, City Manager John Whitson voiced support for LaSalle’s proposal once commissioners reconvened.

Texarkana, Ark., Mayor Wayne Smith and City Manager Harold Boldt were in the audience before commissioners recessed, but did not return in the afternoon when the Commissioners Court reconvened.

The other two proposals were from CEC and Emerald Correctional Management.

CEC’s proposal showed it would charge $56.25 per inmate per day, including food and medical services, or $46 per inmate per day without food and medical services factored in.

Emerald’s proposal showed it would charge $47 per male inmate per day and $56 per female inmate per day, including food and medical services.

The charges without food and medical services were $33 per male inmate per day and $42 per female inmate per day.