{"id":366240,"date":"2026-07-09T02:38:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T02:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/366240\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T02:38:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T02:38:09","slug":"bexar-county-commissioner-criticizes-delay-in-jail-discussion-says-action-cant-wait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/366240\/","title":{"rendered":"Bexar County commissioner criticizes delay in jail discussion, says action can\u2019t wait"},"content":{"rendered":"

BEXAR COUNTY, Texas \u2013 A Bexar County commissioner is criticizing fellow county leaders after an agenda item focused on the county jail and mental health resources was postponed until August \u2014 arguing the delay comes as the jail continues to face overcrowding and other ongoing challenges.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Grant Moody told KSAT he was frustrated after Tuesday\u2019s Commissioners Court meeting ended without discussion of an item he had spent weeks working to place on the agenda. <\/p>\n

The presentation was expected to address the overcrowded Bexar County Adult Detention Center, the region\u2019s shortage of mental health beds and potential solutions to both issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think most of the residents of Bexar County are frustrated by it,\u201d Moody said. \u201cThey see a big problem that we have, and they see inaction that is inexcusable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moody said he was not given a clear explanation for why the item was tabled until August.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really frustrated by it,\u201d Moody said.<\/p>\n

A key part of the proposed discussion involved an update from the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council (STRAC) on the availability of mental health beds at the Laurel Ridge Treatment Center.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Laurel Ridge lost its Medicare and Medicaid provider agreements<\/a>, leading to the layoff of nearly 650 employees and the loss of approximately 330 psychiatric beds. <\/p>\n

Moody said those beds are critical to helping divert people experiencing mental health crises away from the jail.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the experts there in the room with STRAC to be able to talk in detail about where they stand today, what that looks like in terms of those beds that aren\u2019t being able to be utilized and what their prospects were for getting those beds back online,\u201d Moody said. \u201cI really wanted to hear from them. The whole court should have wanted that update.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Moody, the reduction in mental health treatment capacity has added pressure to an already strained behavioral health system, which makes it more difficult to keep people with mental illness out of the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n

Moody said the larger concern is what he described as a lack of urgency from county leaders. He believes delaying the discussion could also hinder the county\u2019s ability to develop a legislative strategy before the next Texas legislative session to seek additional support for mental health resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we\u2019re playing politics with public safety, and I\u2019m sick of it,\u201d Moody said. \u201cWe have a problem in front of us. Let\u2019s try to go solve it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moody also acknowledged that Bexar County will likely need a new jail facility in the future as the county continues to grow. However, the commissioner said current budget constraints make that unrealistic in the near term and that county leaders should focus on other solutions.<\/p>\n

KSAT reached out to Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai for comment on the postponed agenda item. Sakai sent the following statement Wednesday afternoon: <\/p>\n

\u201cThis majority decision was about making sure we get it right. We want to gather any remaining information and fully understand all the potential impacts before moving forward. The criminal justice system is complicated with many stakeholders. Staff is working with University Health on a proposal for our next Commissioner\u2019s Court meeting.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai<\/p>\n

More related coverage of this story on KSAT: <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BEXAR COUNTY, Texas \u2013 A Bexar County commissioner is criticizing fellow county leaders after an agenda item focused…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4755,698,25299,7269,4041,82,84,83],"class_list":["post-366240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-bcso","tag-bexar-county","tag-bexar-county-adult-detention-center","tag-bexar-county-commissioners-court","tag-grant-moody","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}