Sheriff Valdez Responds to Questions Regarding Jail Time Policy

November 19, 2007

In response to recent questions regarding the Dallas County Jail's time credit policy, Sheriff Lupe Valdez submitted the following op-ed column to The Dallas Morning News. The original print version of this column may be read here.

We Would Gladly Change Jail's Time Credit Policy

But only if we have funding and don't risk the progress we've made, says LUPE VALDEZ

Published Monday, November 19, 2007

In the three short years I have served as sheriff, my department has made great progress in addressing the long-standing problems within the Dallas jail.

Dealing with these problems, which were born of decades of neglect and misadministration, has dominated my work as sheriff, and I am proud of the changes my team has brought to every area of the department.

In the 1990s, my predecessor put in place a policy of giving three days of credit for every one day served by inmates doing county or state time in the Dallas jail.

This was done to address severe overcrowding. That policy continues today, as our jail is still very crowded. Such a credit system is common among other overcrowded jails statewide.

My department is willing to change that policy to a 2-for-1 system, but not at the risk of the progress we've made. We will not allow any change that would lessen public safety, waste taxpayer dollars or endanger our jail's compliance with state and federal inmate-to-guard standards.

A change in our time credit policy will cost money and require the addition of staff.

If the Commissioners Court is prepared to fund these added costs — which could run from $1.6 million to several million dollars, depending on future jail populations — and create the required detention officer, supervisor and clerk positions needed to handle an increased jail population, my department is ready to make the switch.

It is important that the scope of this change be made clear. Only a small subset of the jail's population is eligible to receive the current 3-to-1 time credit — roughly 1,500 of the 6,200 inmates now in jail.

Switching these inmates to a 2-to-1 credit, even with a 3-to-1 credit available for those willing to work, would drive up the jail population by several hundred inmates.

Not all of the 1,500 inmates who would see their time extended would be eligible to reduce that time by working inside or outside the jail. Only inmates who meet certain conditions are allowed to be a part of work details, and about 500 of our present inmates would not qualify. This means that the jail population would certainly rise under a changed policy — which is fine, so long as the Commissioners Court provides the funds necessary to similarly increase the department's staff and equipment budget.

As we have shown with our recent coordinated efforts with the Dallas County constables and the city of Dallas, your Dallas County Sheriff's Department is committed to improving public safety and trying new approaches to tackling old problems.

If the Commissioners Court is willing to sit down, consider this matter seriously, and give the Sheriff's Department the increased staff and resources we would need to make this change, I would be proud to return Dallas County's incarceration guidelines to the more stringent 2-for-1 time credit system.

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