Higher prisoner count driving up operating costs at Comanche County Detention Center

Comanche County Detention Center’s administrator is asking Comanche County Commissioners to reimburse guards that are accumulating an excessive amount of overtime.

Detention Center Administrator Bill Hobbs asked the Comanche County Facilities Authority this week to pay for compensatory time for some of his guards, with that payment functioning as overtime pay for those who have accumulated 20 hours or more of comp time. The county doesn’t pay overtime. Rather, it records time in excess of a normal work week as compensatory time to be taken off, but a staffing shortage, coupled with an increased prisoner load, means that comp time can’t happen, Hobbs said.

He said it is a problem facing many employers: there isn’t enough staff. The situation is worse at the detention center because chronic overpopulation means more guards are needed to meet state mandated prisoner-guard ratios.

District 3 Commissioner Josh Powers said he won’t be ready to make a decision on comp time until commissioners know what’s going on and have a real jail budget in hand.

“I don’t know what the costs are to operate the jail,” he said.

Powers said his discussions indicate there are some staff members who have worked at least 30 days without a day off because they are volunteering to work beyond their normal shifts to offset a shortage of staff. Because the county doesn’t pay overtime, these people are “racking up more and more comp” that commissioners will have to address in some way.

“This is not a permanent solution,” Powers said of the pay request, adding it may a viable solution until the county can address its overcrowding situation (fewer prisoners means fewer guards would be needed, he said).

County officials have estimated it would cost $10,000 to pay those with accumulated comp time totaling 20 hours.

District 1 Commissioner John O’Brien said the county also is restricted by one of its policies: a county employee may not accumulate more than 240 hours of comp time. Anything over that amount is immediately reimbursed, he said.

County Clerk Carrie Tubbs said commissioners must be careful about their decision because it will have to be applied across all county departments.

“It is a management issue,” she said, of how county departments follow policies.

Commissioners acknowledged the issues at play, saying they wanted more time to determine how compensatory time would be paid — and how much — before making a decision.