SAN ANTONIO – County commissioners approved an additional 17,075 hours of overtime pay for Bexar County detention officers Tuesday.
The cost of those additional hours is expected to total roughly $512,000. That’s more than double the amount of overtime pay budgeted for annually in an agreement between county leaders, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office and the Bexar County Deputy Sheriff’s Association.
BCSO attributes the need for more overtime to an increase in inmates at the jail, coupled with vacancies among detention officers.
“We've also seen a slowdown in the rate that the TDCJ (Texas Department of Criminal Justice) picks up inmates going to a facility,” said James Keith, chief communications officer for BCSO.
Earlier this month, the Defenders revealed internal jail emails that stated that the main jail exhausted its mandatory overtime list, and deputies were being urged to volunteer to work extra hours for comp time instead of pay.
“It’s the easy way out, and we have to stop doing that,” said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff. “We're trying to stop that comp pay. Go ahead and bite the bullet and do your overtime now, rather than delaying pay.”
Wolff said he would like to see all comp time with BCSO come to an end.
"It’s no secret that people would much rather have money, cash in their pockets, than get an extra day off here or there,” Keith said.
Juan Contreras, president of the Bexar County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, said Tuesday that he believed ending comp time and replacing it with overtime pay would be well received throughout the BCSO ranks, and may encourage more personnel to work extra shifts.
The overtime approval comes after four Bexar County inmates committed suicide in the jail in recent weeks.
"I wouldn’t say it has anything to do with that specifically,” Keith said about the suicides. “But county commissioners have recognized the need for additional staff and to make sure we are paying them accordingly.”
"It’s hard to find people to take this job,” Wolff said.