SAN ANTONIO — Bexar County leaders are calling on the state government to provide relief for more than 200 inmates deemed mentally incompetent by a judge to stand trial.
Sheriff Javier Salazar, Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert and Texas State Sen. Jose Menendez discussed the years-long problem on Tuesday.
The Bexar County jail has 240 mentally incompetent inmates who’ve been waiting hundreds of days to be transferred to a State of Texas mental health facility.
“Some of these people are so sick that they will if left alone, they will gouge their own eyes out,” Menendez said. “It’s inhumane.”
The senator learned Bexar County residents are paying $250 a day for the inmates as they await their next destination for competency restoration care.
Menendez said funds from the State’s large budget surplus should be allocated toward addressing the problem through creating more forensic beds in Bexar County.
“The average wait time for someone with an incompetency sitting in a county jail, at least in Bexar County, is almost 17 months, 500 and some odd days,” Menendez said. “It’s costing taxpayers millions and millions of dollars. We need to move faster. It is unfair to the inmates, their families.”
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) launched a statewide campaign, Eliminate the Wait (EWT), to cut down on the wait for inpatient competency restoration services. This effort involves partnering with the Texas Police Chiefs Association, Sheriffs Association of Texas and the Texas Council of Community Centers.
“TTA (technical assistance) offerings to date include the Eliminate the Wait Toolkit, trainings on competency restoration and strategies to promote active waitlist monitoring, regional planning forums and a soon to launch microsite to support behavioral health and justice county stakeholders,” said Jose Andres Araiza, deputy chief press officer with Texas Health and Human Services.
The HHSC is working with Bexar County on ways to improve care for the mentally ill inmate population.
A new 300-bed San Antonio State Hospital (SASH) is slated to open its doors on the south side in March 2024. The project has been in development since 2017.
There are also potential plans to use the vacated space on the San Antonio State Hospital campus for future behavioral health services once the new hospital is finished.
“Since July 2022, HHSC has also been engaged in a pilot program with Bexar County jail, University Health Services staff, Judge Carruthers' Court, San Antonio State Hospital staff to re-examine competency for those for whom there may be credible evidence of immediate restoration under CCP Article 46B.0755,” Andres Araiza said.
Sheriff Javier Salazar believes the State of Texas is not doing enough in a timely manner to assist the mentally incompetent jail population, which has strained personnel during a climate where recruiting staff is already a struggle. In July, the Bexar County Commissioners Court approved nearly $3.2 million to support BCSO personnel working overtime from June 10 to Sept. 20.
Salazar is also aware of the difficulty of hiring enough staff at the State Hospitals.
That’s why Salazar is hoping to gather the financial support to build a facility that can tackle the workforce shortage while at the same time, relieving the Bexar County Detention Center of the inmates he believes don’t belong in a traditional jail setting due to their mental state.
“A hospital setting that’s built to the same security standards as SASH. People can come here and learn the trade and then we can then help the rest of the state solve the problem by creating more workers here.”