Sheriff Stan Parker presented the contract to the court, saying the likelihood Glasscock will manage to stretch the 96-bed county jail beyond its capacity is slim to none.

“This is a contract for us to house Glasscock County inmates,” said Parker. “It's a pretty standard agreement that Josh (Hamby, county attorney) drew up. We would charge $45 a day for each inmate, and they (Glasscock County) will pay for all medical charges and any other expenses.

“They aren't expecting to house more than one to three (inmates) at a time. They currently have two prisoners in Reagan County that they are paying for, and they said they don't plan to move those two. However, any new ones would come to us... You're looking at one or two at a time, for a couple of days at a time.”

And while it was obvious Commissioner Gary Simer was in favor of using the extra space in the jail to generate revenue for the county, the $45-a-day charge drew a number of questions from the Precinct 4 representative.

“Why are we just charging $45? Why so cheap?” asked Simer.

Parker said the amount was standard for the type of services the county was prepared to render.

“That's the standard rate. It's actually more expensive than what Reagan County is charging,” said Parker. “Reagan County is charging $35 a day.”

Simer said he thought it was better to reserve the space for more lucrative contracts.

“Can't we house federal inmates for $65 to $70 a day? Why don't we reserve our space for that?” asked Simer.

Parker said there are contracts being sought for federal inmates, but nothing solid has developed.

“They (federal agencies) are talking about $55 a day,” said Parker. “We don't currently have a contract for that. We're working on it. We do have complete discretion whether or not we take their (Glasscock County) prisoners.”

County Judge Mark Barr said there was also a more “neighborly” reason for the $45-a-day rate.

“It's also the good neighbor policy,” said Barr. “They helped us out.”

Barr's statement drew a sharp remark from Simer.

“I know, but it doesn't help us pay our taxes,” Simer quickly said.

Barr didn't hesitate to fire back.

“I know they don't pay your taxes, Mr. Simer,” Barr shot back. “But you do have to be friendly with your neighbors. And like he said, Reagan County is doing it for $35 a day.”

With the county having contracted with Reagan County for jail space in the past — most recently, while the new county jail was in planning and construction phases — Simer set his sights on the difference in rates charged by Reagan, located just south of Glasscock County.

“How much were they (Reagan County) charging us?” asked Simer. “They were charging us $45 a day? Then why are they charging them (Glasscock County) $35 a day?”

Parker said he was unsure why Glasscock was able to secure a better rate than Howard had previously paid.

“I don't know why there's a discrepancy in that,” said Parker. “I think a lot of it was because it was an old agreement they had, and just decided to stick with it. They had agreement with them that (Glasscock) Sheriff Pruit signed some years back. I honestly can't answer that.”

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it