The Harris County Sheriff’s Office has reduced the number of jail inmates housed outside of the county since June , a Sept. 18 quarterly jail data report shows. However, outsourcing inmates at other facilities was still a top expense in the fiscal year 2025-26 county general fund budget approved Sept. 24.

What’s changed

HCSO oversees four different facilities in downtown Houston, with two jail facilities outsourced in Louisiana and Mississippi, as previously reported by Community Impact . As of Sept. 9, the Harris County jail was outsourcing about 16%—or 1,388 inmates—of 8,793 total inmates to facilities outside the county or state, according to the Harris County Office of County Administration ’s Sept. 18 jail updates report presented during the Harris County Commissioners C

See Full Page