CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Nueces County Jail inmate population has long been in the red zone.
Nueces County Sheriff J.C. Hooper said the population is now at 78 percent, which sounds high, but two years ago, the jail's population reached 105 percent.
In 2022, the county jail had an agreement to house inmates in Victoria and Aransas counties due to overcrowding. Now, Hooper said that in his five years as sheriff, this is the lowest he's seen the population.
"Most of 2022, we were at 95 and above, as high as 105," he said.
Fast forward to 2024, Hooper said the numbers are starting to look more optimistic.
"We're in the 70's now," he said. "We have 907 inmates here today and our total capacity is 1,164."
Hooper said there is a reason behind those dwindling numbers.
"The courts are moving again, we have a new public defender's office that I think is also responsible for this; they are being much more aggressive in moving cases," he said.
It's a process Nueces County Precinct 4 Commissioner Brent Chesney said would save the county money in the long run.
"It costs the county to house those people in there," he said. "So if it's a 95 percent and that represents another 100 prisoners then we have to pay for that."
During the COVID-19 pandemic the jail's capacity reached 104 percent. According to Nueces County officials, the cost to house an inmate at the jail was $65 a day, while the cost to send inmates to another jail was $78.51 per day per inmate.
"It's also beneficial to the community, because hopefully that means cases are being disposed of quicker and that there's going to be less crime on the street," he said.
While the inmate population has seen a noticeable decrease, Hooper said he hopes it's a trend that continues.
"It was a very expensive time for us, but we're at a better place now," he said.
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