Women veterans take a photo Tuesday during after Smith County commissioners proclaimed June 7 as Celebrating Women Veterans Day. 

Smith County commissioners heard a presentation Tuesday about future jail expansion, but County Judge Nathaniel Moran says don’t expect it anytime soon.

“I don’t want anybody to get caught up in the thought or the possibility that (jail expansion) is bound to happen overnight or even in the next couple of years — it is not,” he said.

Moran said being able to get ahead of issues through planning and understanding the problem is something he has actively done throughout his time as judge, and this is no different. Through identifying possible solutions and plans of actions, the court is better prepared, he said.

Officials have discussed the county jail population, which has been stabilized, for the past six months, Moran said.

“We want to try to stay ahead of that issue and make sure that we’re prepared for it, and when the time comes, and the time will come, whether that’s five years from now or 10 years from now … when we may need another facility,” he said.

Moran said looking at jail expansion now will help the court know potential costs. And if and when the time comes to expand, the court already will have a plan to discuss with residents.

In addition, the process will give the county an incentive to look more into operational changes to avoid expansion.

While discussing operational changes might seem counterintuitive to discussing jail expansion, Moran said he believes understanding the cost of additional facilities helps people see that if operations are not changed, expansion could be needed.

“The preference would be we don’t have to spend those funds,” Moran said. “The preference would be we make the operational changes necessary to reduce our population and to avoid that expense.”

Halden Tally with HDR Architecture gave the presentation Tuesday to commissioners.

A large part of the jail expansion study is reviewing data, such as population growth and incarceration to help the county see how it stacks up with trends, Tally said.

HDR will work with the sheriff’s office to gather data on jail admissions and releases, changing characteristics of inmates and classification needs, growing medical and mental health needs, growing female population and expandability and flexibility.

As HDR looks at incarceration and an inmate’s average length of stay, which can be affected by county courts, it will make recommendations to reduce backlog and what jail capacity could be with expansion, Tally said.

After gathering data and looking into space needs, HDR will be able to get into planning options for housing, kitchen and laundry, jail administration and more.

The goal is to start collecting data by the end of the month and then toward the end of the year have cost projections for an expansion.

At the conclusion of Tuesday’s presentation, commissioners entered into an agreement with HDR to look into jail expansion.

“I want to make clear as we get into this process that the end goal actually is not to in the mid-or near-term do a physical facility but instead understand what the cost would be and opt for the operational changes necessary to bring that population down,” Moran said.

With the 475th District Court starting operations in January, the jail population is expected to decrease more, he said.

Commissioners on Tuesday also heard an update on court changes related to the 475th.

The 321st District Court was moved to a renovated space on the fifth floor of the Courthouse Annex and began operations there Monday. The move freed up the 321st’s space on the first floor of the courthouse.

At the end of the year, the 241st District Court will move to the first floor of the courthouse, and the 475th will be placed in the 241st’s current courtroom.

Renovations also are planned on the third floor and basement of the courthouse to create more office space for additional district attorney’s office staff who will be needed for the 475th.

Commissioners on Tuesday also approved a contract with Watson Commercial Construction to build the new road and bridge facility, contingent on the company providing proof of active status in the System for Award Management, or sam.gov.

Sam.gov is a tracking system to verify vendors have an active status that allows them to bid on projects funded by federal relief funds, said Purchasing Director Jaye Latch.

Watson Commercial Construction previously had active status but could not show proof because of technical problems, Latch said.

Bids for the road and bridge facility project were higher than anticipated, with Watson Commercial Construction being the lowest at $4.31 million, Moran said. Commissioners on Tuesday also approved fund transfers to cover the difference.

The project is funded partially with federal relief funds, cash and capital improvement funds, Moran said.

Transfers made from other areas to the road and bridge facility construction are:

• $23,400 from facility improvement fund
• $990,000 from COVID-19 grants
• $1 million from the road and bridge department
• $100,000 from road oil
• $300,000 from contract surface treatment
• $100,000 from right of way
• $500,000 from equipment

Commissioners also proclaimed June 7 as Celebrating Women Veterans Day and June 18 as Judge Quincy Beavers Jr. Day.

Beavers resigned as the Pct. 1 justice of the peace in April.