Ferris PD needs to find a new home for prisoners

FERRIS – The Ferris Police Department has been using the Red Oak Police Department jail facilities for some time to house its prisoners when an arrest is made.

At a recent Ferris City Council meeting Police Chief Eddie Salazar gave a presentation letting the city council know it is time to find a new jail.

On Jan. 28, Salazar received an email from Red Oak Police Chief Garland Wolf asking about the status of the Ferris jail situation.

“Everyone is aware that Red Oak PD graciously allows us to house prisoners at their jail,” Salazar said.

Wolf wanted to know if Ferris PD was any closer to getting their own jail.

The email stated, “we are internally reviewing our contracts and the jail contract has been out for a while now and we are not protected by any kind of agreement to have your prisoners here or to legally bill you for the services housing your prisoners.”

Moving forward with budget proposals for part-time and full-time jail staff for the new fiscal year, Wolf said, “in determining the number of people for the request I have to look at the amount of people processed through the facility and the amount of time checking paperwork. I am not sure, moving forward, if I will be afforded the opportunity to extend the offer of the jail.”

At the very least a contract resulting in an increase in the amount of jail fees assessed to Ferris is expected.

Salazar responded to Wolf that he was meeting with architects to design a new police/fire building and told him he firmly believed Ferris will have a new facility in no more than 24 months.

“I recently found out that plans for a new facility are stalled,” the presentation Salazar shared with the city council explains, “This puts the Ferris Police Department in a dilemma. If Red Oak PD decides that they will no longer house FPD prisoners, we are going to be in a bad situation.”

Arrest report statistics dating from July 25, 2018 to April 4, 2019 indicated Ferris Police Department Officers arrested 75 persons for various offenses. That’s an average of 9.4 prisoners per month and most of these prisoners were transported to the Red Oak PD jail pending arraignment.

Since that time Ferris has increased its number of officers to the correct amount and this means higher incidents of arrests. If Red Oak PD decides they can no longer house prisoners in their jail, Ferris PD will be forced to take all prisoners to the Ellis County Detention Center, 18 miles from Ferris with a travel time of up to 30 minutes one way. This does not include the booking process. DWI situations will take even longer.

One other situation if Red Oak pulls its contract is concerning Class C Misdemeanor warrants. The Ferris Police Department will no longer be able to arrest people for Class C Misdemeanor warrants. The ECSO jail will not accept Class C arrests.

This will result in a loss of revenue for Ferris since they will not be able to confirm or arrest any Class C warrants until there is a Ferris PD jail plan.

While Wolf said he was not trying to hurt Ferris PD, he adds “Jails are inherently liability ridden and we simply are moving away from that liability outside of our own prisoners. We have not set a firm date to sever the housing agreement for Ferris’ prisoners. Red Oak Police Department believed from a liability perspective it is in our best interest to migrate away from housing outside agency prisoners.”

Without being asked to leave yet, Salazar believes it was time to make a future plan for the Ferris Police Department jail.

“My intent for this notice is to make each [city council member] aware of the situation,” Salazar concluded “and to provide guidance and direction to the city manager regarding construction of a new Police Department facility.”