Tarrant County paid more than $2 million after ending its contract early with private jail staffing company Recana Recruiting and Staffing Solutions — but still left the public with questions about why the contract ended early.
Democratic Commissioner Alisa Simmons requested a briefing over Recana during Tuesday’s commissioners court meeting. She had voted against the contract when it was proposed last October and criticized the way public discussion was handled after commissioners voted to end the two-year contract in May — just seven months after it was approved.
Recana operated at Tarrant County Jail from January through June and the county paid roughly $2.3 million for those months, jail administrator Shannon Herklotz told commissioners.
It’s nearly double the cost estimated in May, which was about $1.2 million.
The final invoice total of about $2.3 million reflects all services performed under the contract through June 14, when it was officially terminated, Kimberly Buchanan, Tarrant County Auditor, confirmed to KERA News in an email Thursday.
“After that date, additional invoices totaling approximately $1,133,307.01 were received and paid for services performed from April 2026 through mid‑June,” Buchanan said. “These later invoices account for the difference between the earlier estimate and the final contract total.”
It costs between $7,000 and $15,000 per jailer that’s recruited, trained and equipped, according to Herklotz. In total, 34 jailers were hired through the contract and kept 22 on staff after the contract ended. At the time the contract was approved, Recana was required to help hire a minimum of 50 jailers.
Simmons questioned at the meeting what “measurable benefits” the county gained from this contract during the months it was in place — and when they’ll be able to openly discuss why it ended early.
“We terminated this contract a reason, even though we came out here and said we didn't,” Simmons said. “Not any fault of our sheriff, not any fault of this court … it was the fault of Recana, so I don't think we shouldn't pay that full amount.”
County Judge Tim O’Hare disagreed, saying the invoiced amounts needed to be paid for the jailers that were hired.
“[It] would have subjected us to being sued for not paying and subjected us too not only the damages, but also attorney's fees, court costs and interest,” O’Hare said.
Reasons for ending the contract weren’t publicly discussed during May’s meeting. Simmons said at the meeting there was cause for ending it and was discussed during closed session.
It’s not entirely clear what those reasons are, but Simmons said Recana failed the county by sending jailers that were not certified by the Texas Commission of Law Enforcement — a requirement according to the commission’s website.
Herklotz told Simmons all 34 jailers were certified, and the issue was with the speed of getting them through the hiring process.
“Operationally, we had no issues with Recana,” Herklotz said. “Their staff were eager to learn professionally.”
The contract with Recana was meant to help with short staffing and overtime hours and the county jail, a common problem for jail and prisons across the country. The jail had 202 vacancies at the beginning of the year and is down to 92 as of Tuesday, according to Herklotz.
KERA News reached out to the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office — which oversees the jail — for a comment and will update this story with any response.
Penelope Rivera is KERA's Tarrant County Accountability Reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
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