Since the beginning of the new year, the Hockley County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) and the 286th District Attorney’s Office have been working in tandem to increase the number of cases needed to be pushed through the legal system.
Hockley County Sheriff, Chris Wischkaemper highlighted that the inmate population has significantly decreased along with the out-of-county inmate housing population.
HCSO Captain Taylor Inscore provided jail number averages for the current and past year in regard to in house inmates and out-of-county inmates.
In 2024, the average local inmate count was approximately 42.12, while the average out-ofcounty inmate count was 26.
Currently for 2025, the average local inmate count has been 50, while the average out-ofcounty inmate count is down to 10.
The most common use for contracts between facilities is to help with overcrowding.
However, Wischkaemper explained that some current inmates not housed within the local facility are housed out-ofcounty due to specialized medical or mental health care, or to serve a sentence in a facility better suited for their specific situation or length of sentence.
The jail is also holding a Lubbock County inmate through a contract between the entities.
Similar to other counties, the costs associated with holding inmates in a local facility and outof- county can increase quickly.
Each year since 2023, the out-of-county budget line has sat near or at the $500,000 mark.
Additionally, the price for the jail expenses line item was budgeted at $45,000 and the prisoner keep line item was budgeted at $100,000.
“If we can keep this up, we will be well under the budgeted amount for out-of-county inmate housing,” said Wischkaemper.
The sheriff explained that the work between the department and the DA’s Office has been moving along fairly quickly.
Everybody within the department is pleased with how well everything is working,” said Wischkaemper. “Things are going smoothly and we owe a lot of that to Donnie and his office.”
Yandell complimented the work the Hockley County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) has done.
Since the start of his administration in January, Yandell has been receiving updated lists of inmates and their information including their offense and length of stay.
“The immediate goal has been to work with the sheriff’s department and figure out which cases need to be pushed through and which cases need to get dismissed or need to be pled out,” explained Yandell.
Similar to Wischkaemper’s explanation of why a few individuals will remain in out-ofcounty housing, Yandell added there are a handful of cases that have been in the system for a lengthy period of time, but there is not much his office can do due to circumstances of the legal system.
“We have to work the system and get the case moved as fast as possible,” said Yandell. “The ones that have been there for a long time without anything being done are the ones I’m concentrating on. I think we’ve got those cases either moved or in the process of being moved. If they cannot be moved we will go to trial. That is why the legal system is there.”
Yandell also emphasized the importance of having an efficient process between the two entities.
“The importance of seeing a lowered case load and fewer inmate population revolves around saving taxpayer dollars,” explained Yandell. “I believe the going rate for housing an inmate is roughly $60 per day. That gets expensive quickly.”
Yandell explained that the entities are focusing on the felony intakes at the jail to ensure they are indicted in a timely manner as he feels the cases are something that should not be taking long.
“We do not need people sitting in jail pre-indictment for any longer than absolutely necessary,” said Yandell. “If they committed a crime they need to be indicted and we need to move the case.
“If there is something wrong with the case and we need to reject it, we will reject it and they need to get out.”
Yandell complimented 286th District Court Judge Pat Phelan with setting cases on dockets as quickly as he can.
“It is all team work and we are going to continue to move these cases forward,” said Yandell.