AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) – Potter County commissioners are working to address overcrowding at the Potter County Jail.

“This morning there are 618, which is a lot of people. We don’t have that many in our jail, but seven are gone and have been transferred to Childress and five are in Garza County,” said Potter County Sheriff Brian Thomas.

Potter County officials say inmates will soon be transferred to Deaf Smith and Scurry counties to relieve overcrowding.

“We have to allocate funds to house inmates in other counties. As you know, we pay these out-of-state counties not only per day for the beds, but there are transportation costs and personal expenses to transport the inmates there and back,” said Chief Scott Giles of the Potter County Sheriff’s Office.

The price for housing inmates “per bed per day” in Lynn County is $72.

“When the prison is full, it’s a bit stressful for everyone, including the staff, so it’s really important that we find a short-term and a long-term solution. There are no easy answers to this, but it’s stressful for the staff and the inmates,” Giles said.

The long-term solution is to build an additional block for the prison. This block could accommodate up to 144 additional inmates and will be funded by taxpayers’ money.

“That’s just a rough estimate. I mean, it will take another two years until everything is finished and we can move in,” Thomas said.

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