After consistently teetering around capacity, the Dallas County Jail exceeded the maximum number of inmates it can hold for the first time in two decades over Labor Day weekend, said Dallas County Criminal Justice Department Director Charlene Randolph during a Tuesday Dallas County Commissioners Court meeting related to county tax rates.
The excess prisoner population could cost Dallas taxpayers tens of millions more each month, as the county weighs options that include paying other municipalities to house Dallas inmates. To do so, the county is proposing a voter-approved property tax increase of $0.222188 per $100.
“We are in crisis,” said Randolph. “We are at a hundred percent, our book-ins are at record levels. And so if people are brought here, we have to find ways to get them out.”…