Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0229 Page: 6 of 14
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The Honorable Matt Bingham - Page 6
However, to the extent Texas statutes address the issue, they indicate that the commissioners
court must have some authority over whether federal prisoners will be kept in the county jail.
Sections 351.001 of the Local Government Code requires a commissioners court to "provide safe
and suitable jails for the county," TEX. Loc. Gov'T CODE ANN. 351.001(a) (Vernon 1999), which
"must comply with the minimum standards and the rules and procedures of the Commission on Jail
Standards," id. 351.002. Section 511.0093(b) of the Government Code authorizes the Commission
on Jail Standards (the "Commission") to adopt
rules regulating the number offederal prisoners and prisoners from
jurisdictions other than Texas that are housed in a county jail, a
municipal jail, or a correctional facility operated by a private vendor
under contract with a municipality if the jail or correctional facility
houses state, county, or municipal prisoners or prisoners of another
state of the United States.
TEX. Gov'T CODE ANN. 511.0093(b) (Vernon 1998) (emphasis added). Section 511.009 charges
both the sheriff and the commissioners court with reporting to the Commission regarding the
county's compliance with Commission standards. See id. 511.009(a)(8), (14) (Vernon Supp.
2004). Given that the legislature has charged each commissioners court with the duty to provide for
a jail that complies with Commission standards and to report to the Commission, the legislature must
intend for commissioners courts to exercise some authority over whether and to what degree the jail
will house federal inmates.
In addition, section 511.0094 of the Government Code, which excepts from Commission
regulation a correctional facility housing only federal prisoners, suggests that the commissioners
court, not the sheriff, would enter into a contract with the federal government to house federal
prisoners:
The provisions of this chapter do not apply to a correctional
facility contracting to house only federal prisoners and operating
pursuant to a contract between a unit of the federal government and
a county, a municipality, or a private vendor. If a county,
municipality, or private vendor contracts to house or begins to house
state, county, or municipal prisoners or prisoners of another state of
the United States, it shall report to the commission before placing
such inmates in a correctional facility housing only federal prisoners.
Id. 511.0094 (emphasis added).
You also rely on the language of section 351.043(c): "The federal law enforcement officer
on whose authority the prisoner is received and kept is directly and personally liable to the sheriff
or jailer for the jail fees and other costs incurred in keeping the prisoner." TEX. Loc. GOV'T CODE
ANN. 351.043(c) (Vernon 1999). You believe that because the federal officer is liable for fees only
to the sheriff (or the jailer) and not the commissioners court, any authority to enter into a contract
to house federal prisoners must rest with the sheriff. See Request Letter, supra note 1, at 4.(GA-0229)
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0229, text, August 9, 2004; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth275125/m1/6/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.