Willacy County commissioners request extension; Officials mulling taking over prison operations

Sep. 15—RAYMONDVILLE — The clock is ticking toward a Sept. 30 deadline as Willacy County commissioners await federal officials' response to their request for a six-month extension as they consider taking over operations of a 500-bed county-owned federal prison that's become an economic lifeline in this area struggling with one of Texas' highest jobless rates.

As a result of President Joe Biden's order, Management and Training Corp., the private company running the Willacy County Regional Detention Center, is facing a Sept. 30 deadline before its U.S. Marshals Service contract expires.

During a special meeting Tuesday, County Attorney Annette Hinojosa told commissioners the Marshals Service is trying to get federal officials to grant the extension.

"What we're hopeful for is that they'll approve an extension," County Judge Aurelio Guerra said after the meeting.

During the meeting, Sheriff Joe Salazar, pointing out MTC won't disclose details behind its operations, presented commissioners with a proposed $10.9 million budget after sheriffs in Zapata and La Salle counties provided financial information on the costs of running their prisons.

"They're very, very soft numbers," Commissioner Eddie Gonzales said after the meeting. "It's very preliminary."

After the meeting, Guerra said he estimated additional operational costs would climb to a total of more than $20 million a year.

Under Salazar, the county would maintain the prison's current staffing levels, Gonzales indicated.

"The staffing in there — you're going to keep it there," Gonzales said.

Meanwhile, Salazar told commissioners the Marshals Service would be expected to cut down on the number of prisoners it transfers to the prison if operations change hands.

If it takes over the prison, the county would work to boost the number of prisoner transfers, which determines the amount of revenue coming into the operation.

Economic lifeline

Since it opened in 2003, the prison's become one of the county's main economic lifelines.

In July, Issa Arnita, MTC's spokesman, stated the prison employs more than 200 workers.

However, County Treasurer Ruben Cavazos said that number's closer to 225.

Meanwhile, the prison pumps about $400,000 a year into county coffers, based on its inmate count.

In the area, the prison's bounty tickles down.

At Raymondville City Hall, City Manager Eleazar Garcia said MTC's federal contract pays its employees about $20 an hour, some of the area's highest wages, while estimating its annual payroll's about $4 million.

In Raymondville, the prison pumps about $250,000 in water and sewer revenue into city coffers every year, he said.

"I'd hate for it to close down and we'd have a huge job loss in our county," Salazar said Tuesday while commissioners met in closed session.

Questioning the prison's sale

After the meeting, Cavazos, who said the county still owes about three years of debt stemming from the $14.5 million prison's construction in 2003, questioned whether commissioners might consider selling the prison to MTC.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Guerra could not be reached for comment.

Previous prison sale

In March 2017, the county sold a 53-acre detention center to MTC for $2 million as part of an agreement which released it of a $68 million debt owed to bond holders.

As part of the deal, the agreement also pays the county $3 day for every inmate housed in the 1,000-bed detention center holding undocumented immigrants for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Nearly 10 years earlier, the county sold $60 million in bonds to build a 2,000-bed detention center made up of 10 tent-line domes to hold undocumented immigrants for ICE.

As part of an agreement, the federal government paid the county $78 a day to house each inmate.

In 2007, the previous commission sold an additional $50 million in bonds to build a 1,000-bed concrete housing unit, expanding the detention center's capacity to 3,000 beds.

In February 2015, rioting inmates destroyed the 3,000-bed detention center known as "tent city."

The detention center's closure led to 400 employee layoffs, slashing a third of the county's $8.1 million general fund budget while plunging it into economic crisis.

Background

Six days after taking office in January, Biden signed an executive order phasing out the Department of Justice's contracts with private prison operators, including Marshals Service's contracts.

"To decrease incarceration levels, we must reduce profit-based incentives to incarcerate by phasing out the federal government's reliance on privately operated criminal detention facilities," the order states.

The order directs the Attorney General's Office to "not renew Department of Justice contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities."

The order won't affect MTC's contract with ICE at the company-owned El Valle detention center.

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