Tarrant County plans to outsource jail staffing, after years of struggling to hire enough detention officers.
Tarrant County commissioners voted 3-2 Tuesday to approve a two-year contract with Recana Recruiting and Staffing Solutions, to try and reduce the overtime hours jailers have to work.
The company brings people in from around the country and helps them get licensed to work in the jail, county jail chief Shannon Herklotz said.
"They'll follow the same policies, procedures, everything that our staff does,” he said. “It will just help us combat our vacancies.”
KERA News has reached out to County Administrator Chandler Merritt to clarify the total expected cost of the contract, which was not included in the meeting’s agenda documents. He said he would check with the county purchasing department.
The contract will be funded “through offsetting overtime costs and salary savings from vacant positions,” according to a purchasing department memo.
Recana funds people’s relocation for the first 30 days after they move to the area, Merritt told commissioners Tuesday. After a certain period, Tarrant County can also hire the Recana jailers permanently, he said.
“The ones that are bright and shining stars that we really like, we put them through the academy, and they become employees of Tarrant County," Merritt said.
Democratic commissioners Alisa Simmons and Roderick Miles Jr. voted against the contract.
"I don't think I like being a guinea pig if nobody else has used this model,” Simmons said. “That kind of frightens me, but alright.”
Understaffing is a common problem in jails and prisons around the country, which can lead to burnout and increased violence.
Liberty County, near Houston, contracted with Recana to outsource jail staffing in 2024, the Texas Observer reported. The company also ran detention facilities in Texas for Operation Lone Star, Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security initiative, according to the company’s website.
The big hole in Tarrant County’s jail workforce has shrunk some over the years, but it has not gone away. In 2023, the sheriff’s office reported more than 200 open positions. As of Tuesday, there were 176, Herklotz said.
Last year, jailers were working a minimum of 52 hours a week, former jail administrator Charles Eckert told KERA News. A previous contract with a recruitment firm cost $37,500 and led to three hires, he said.
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
