Smith County Jail aims to use mass hiring strategy

SMITH COUNTY — Jails in East Texas have been hurting for quite some time now due to staffing shortages. That’s why Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith is proposing another strategy to try and get the facility back up to full strength. “We’re 37 [employees] short in the jail right now,” said Smith. Smith went in front of the commissioner’s board earlier this week to present the current jail report. While filling open positions is still a problem, Smith told our news partner KETK that the biggest issue with the open jobs is that there is no relief factor. “That’s what got us in this situation,” added Smith. This means the jail doesn’t have enough staffing to cover every shift, especially when an employee calls out sick or goes on vacation. This also leads to more employees having to work overtime. The sheriff said being able to hire the number of employees they need, which is dozens all at one time, could solve things. Smith added finding jailors is currently the most difficult position they’re trying to fill.

The funds to be able to hire more employees in mass numbers as well as have a relief factor comes from the Smith County Commissioners Court.

“I think they’ll be on board,” Smith said. “We’ve got a very good commissioners court now that understands what the issues are. They dig in.“ Smith added that he thinks the money will be provided by the court. “The money will be there,” he said. “If the money was like at the legislative this year. They’ve been very generous.”

There is currently no timetable on when funds might be approved or how much money the jail would receive.