AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) – For months, the Potter County Sheriff’s Office has published a weekly number: a jail population hovering stubbornly between 91% and nearly 98% of capacity.
The weekly report is the department’s effort towards ensuring transparency with the public while navigating budget woes, skeptical city commissioners, and a growing jail population.
While the weekly number has eased from an all-time high of 632 inmates on August 31, there’s no denying that the jail is in what Sheriff Brian Thomas described in a recent city commissioner’s meeting as “dire straits.”…