Kenedy County Commissioners met recently to discuss plans to build their own county jail. If they do they won't be housing inmates in Willacy County anymore.

Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence said that he has heard talk about a Kenedy County jail for sometime but nothing has come of it. Kenedy County inmates are how held at the Kleberg County Jail in Kingsville and also in Willacy County Jail, Spence said.

"I believe we have about four (inmates) right now," he added.

Kenedy County Judge J.A. Garcia commented, "We are getting information and looking at all our options, nothing is definite, we have just put in our assessment to see if a jail is necessary."

Adan Munoz, Jr., Executive Director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, met with the Kenedy Commissioners Court to dicuss options the county has.

He said, "The purpose of the study we are doing is to determine the minimum number of beds Kenedy County will need over the next 15-20 years."

Kenedy County inmates mostly come off traffic stops on U.S. Hwy. 77 or at the Border Patrol checkpoint near Sarita. They are booked at the sheriff's dept., then transferred to Kleberg or Willacy counties facilities, depending on which jail has beds available.

"Kenedy County is in a unique position because it shut down its jail a few years ago which left no option but to send the inmates to other counties," said Munoz.

"They attempted to use their jail for an (overnight) lockup but that became more of a liability than anything."

"We are looking at a 72-hour lockup, or to see if we need something more expansive," said Judge Garcia.

Munoz had the final comment, "More than likely Kenedy County will need 48 beds, they now handle 20-30 inmates a month, and not all of them are long term incarcerations."