LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Lubbock County Sheriff Kelly Rowe says the county detention center is overdue for significant repairs and expansion, with physical deterioration and aging technology threatening the facility’s standing as a model jail in Texas.
Rowe said the jail’s population has grown from 1,000 inmates when it opened to roughly 1,400 on a regular basis, requiring the county to ship overflow inmates to other counties.
The facility, now in its 17th year of operation, has seen wear and tear throughout the building. A roof replacement estimated at approximately $6 million several years ago has begun, but Rowe said only about a third of the work has been completed.
“By the time it’s all said and done, that roof will have cost well more than what it would have cost if we’d have fixed it back in the day,” Rowe said.
Water intrusion from the roof has caused visible damage inside the building, including a beam that’s lost its concrete and has rusted in the sally port, water spots throughout the facility, and bladder systems installed to prevent leaks from dripping onto electronics.
Outside the facility, a retaining wall has begun to lean.
“If we don’t get it repaired in short order, it may just very well collapse. And that happens, so goes a pretty good section of the parking lot, the way that’s designed out there,” Rowe said.
Security electronics, including intercom and automated door lock systems, were installed at least a year before the jail opened and were not new at the time of purchase, Rowe said. He said those systems are now reaching end of life, and replacement parts are difficult to source.
He said the button used to communicate with all inmates during an emergency crashes the system, forcing deputies and jailers onto “fire watch” — manually monitoring every inmate.
“It’s a challenge in and of itself, too, just because, again, we’ve got staffing limitations, staffing requirements that we’ve got to meet. And, again, it’s just, it causes greater management challenges than you can imagine,” Rowe said.
Rowe told county commissioners in early budget discussions the jail “teeters” on failing an inspection with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. He serves as chair of that board.
“That’s what bothers me more than anything else is that you take that that has that kind of reputation, particularly here in the state of Texas, and that’s the jail that’s having to come before the commission with action plans and how are you addressing this and where are you finding the funding?” Rowe said.
Repairs to items such as the roof and computer systems fall under separate county budgets, including maintenance and information technology. Rowe said he has no control over those budgets but does not see how operating at a no-new-revenue rate would allow room for improvements.
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