The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and Texas Department of Criminal Justice have launched a streamlined program to transfer sentenced county inmates to state prisons.
The Penitentiary Packet system, or PEN, is meant to reduce jail crowding, which has cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
Sheriff's spokesperson Doug Sisk said in a statement that the agencies have worked together for ten months developing the system — which could be implemented throughout Texas.
"Counties will now be able to submit all the required Pen Packet documentation digitally into the secure TDCJ platform which will streamline submission timeframes," according to the statement. "This digital solution will replace antiquated delivery methods such as hand-delivery, mail or email attachments. The portal provides full transparency for both state and county partners and will have the ability to track each pen packet throughout the review and scheduling process."
People kept in jail or not transferred once they are eligible has been an issue for years, worsened by a computer software change in May 2023.
The state not picking up inmates within the required 45-day window because of communication or paperwork errors causes jail population back ups and costs the county money — in lawsuit settlements and jail housing.
Paula Keeth with the Dallas Peace and Justice Center said during commissioners court public comment Tuesday that the transfer requirement should be met.
"The county has to keep paying for their prolonged unnecessary stays," she said. "They shouldn't be there anymore...The delays in PEN packets being sent is an administrative problem. The sheriff's administrative staff is not doing their job, and costing the county money every day, contributing to overcrowding, and making people suffer in jail.”
Commissioner John Wiley Price said Tuesday that the county is working with consultants to reduce transfer delays.
"The sheriff generates a PEN to go to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice," he said. "If there is a judge's signature or something that is not there, they kick it back [and] the time starts over again."
County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins said correcting issues is a priority
"None of that is to say that we don't recognize that this is a problem and we are not working as best we can to fix it as quickly as we can," he said in court.
Dallas County migrated case files from the 40-year-old Forvis criminal case management software system to Tyler Technologies’ Odyssey system.
Forvis was retired before Odyssey was fully operational.
Training on the new system also fell short, leading to more delays in releasing inmates after they had served their sentences.
Housing a person in Dallas County’s Lew Sterrett Justice Center jail has increased from about $85 each day — about $16 million, to $20 million monthly.
One $60,000 lawsuit settlement in 2024 was for a man jailed for months longer than he should've been. The state needed confirmation from the jail that he had fully served his time.
Defense lawyer Jim Spangler had said a former staffer with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said the paperwork never arrived from the Dallas County Sheriff's Office.
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