Dallas County jail continues to operate at 96% capacity — close to its maximum capacity of 7,119 inmates.
To help reduce that number, county administrators and commissioners are studying the "Miami Model."
The Miami-Dade County jail in Florida has curbed crowding by decriminalizing mental health-related challenges.
Immediate crowding relief here could come from stopping mental health assessments on misdemeanor offenders, based on the Miami Model, says Lashonda Jefferson, assistant director of Dallas County's Jail Population Management.
"One of the things that they do in Miami-Dade is they do not order competency evaluations on misdemeanor defendants or anyone that is not eligible to go to prison," she said in commissioners court. "I think that's something we could start immediately. Let's not order these competency evaluations on criminal trespass defendants, which makes their stay in jail longer."
The Miami Model takes people with mental health issues to a screening center before jail.
Those same centers handle the offenders first court appearance, too.
But Texas law would have to charge for that to happen.
Here, jails must accept all arrested people.
Dallas County commissioners Andy Sommerman and Theresa Daniel went to Florida learn more.
Sommerman says shorter processing time is key.
"Our jail sometimes takes four to six hours to process an individual through the jail," he said. "If you can incentivize them by saying, 'I'll get you in and out in 20 minutes,' that's a huge incentive. And it's something that the police want — and needs — in order to do it. It has to be a no-refuse center. That is to say, you can't say no to this patient."
Sommerman noted legislative similarities with Florida that could make the model work in Texas.
"It can be sold to our brethren across the aisle to say, 'Look what Florida has done with a Republican legislature and a Republican governor,'" he said. "And as a result, I encourage you to do this."
Nearly 2 million people with serious mental illnesses are booked into United States jails each year.
More than 25,000 annually are jailed in Dallas County compared to Miami-Dade's 11,000.
Inmates with mental illnesses experience longer jail stays, often because evaluation processes take more time.
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