Commissioners transfer $234,493 for jail overtime as sheriff reports staffing improvements

The Denton County Commissioners Court on Dec. 16 approved budget amendment request 2026126 to transfer $234,493 from salary assistance to pay overtime for the county jail for November.

Commissioner Williams moved the amendment and Commissioner Mitchell seconded; the court approved the transfer unanimously. County staff said the funds will cover overtime obligations for the jail for the period in question.

Sheriff (on the record) updated the court on hiring and staffing: after a period in which the jail ran at roughly 30% staffed, the sheriff reported the jail is now about 73% staffed. He said the county currently has about 85 open positions — down from roughly 200 earlier in the hiring campaign — and that increased pay and benefits helped recruitment. The sheriff also said the county is no longer paying other counties to house inmates and credited the court's support for pay increases as a contributing factor to improved staffing.

The sheriff emphasized that training and background investigations remain bottlenecks: he noted a sizable candidate pipeline but that not all applicants complete the process. No additional budgetary actions beyond the approved transfer were reported at the meeting.