Burleson County sheriff warns jail likely to fail inspection without roof repairs

Sheriff Gene Hermes told the Burleson County Commissioners Court that upcoming building and fire inspections for the county jail are at risk of failing because of long-standing maintenance issues.

Hermes said the fire inspection is scheduled for March 6 and that holes in the jail ceiling require roof repairs; ‘‘material could take 6 weeks to six months to get,’’ he said, and because the facility has not been in compliance for about a year ‘‘the Jail inspection will not pass.’’ He also reported the jail population at 57, including two inmates from Milam County, and said patrol is fully staffed and dispatch is operating well. The sheriff noted Marshall Bengs has been assigned as the new K9 officer.

The court received the sheriff's report during the department report portion of the meeting; no formal motion on jail repairs was recorded in the transcript. County Attorney Susan Deski told the court that the Office of Court Administration completed a courthouse security walk-through and will provide recommendations in a report. The court did not take a recorded vote to authorize immediate major repairs during this meeting.

Next steps: commissioners will need to consider funding or contracting options to address the roof and ceiling repairs before the scheduled inspections; the transcript does not specify a timeline for any contract or funding request to return to the court.