In light of the recent de-population of the Freestone County Jail, Aldermen called a special meeting of the Teague City Council on Monday, April 8th to address the related costs and concerns.
The Council voted to allocate $10,000 from the city’s fund reserve, amending the current budget to cover the transportation of those arrested by the Teague Police Department to the Limestone County Jail for the undetermined future.
Later that week, at the Freestone County Commissioner’s meeting on April 10th, Teague’s City Administrator/Secretary Theresa Prasil spoke to Commissioners on behalf of Teague and other affected cities in Freestone County.
“After receiving the news late last Wednesday regarding the impending depopulation of our county jail, we immediately reached out to our fellow colleagues, and county officials,” read Prasil’s statement.
“After much discussion it was unanimously agreed upon that our primary goal is to see the Freestone County Jail back open for booking purposes. Due to this unexpected procedural change for the transportation and booking of all Freestone County arrested persons, each government entity within Freestone County now faces many hardships to include, our community and county’s safety and welfare, our officer safety and unforeseen financial burden. We understand that you cannot discuss or take any action at this time but we felt it was important for our voices to be heard and to let you all know that we are here to support each of you and our county with seeking resolution that will ultimately benefit ALL of our communities. We are requesting that we and this matter be placed on the next Commissioners Court Agenda for further discussion and hopeful action.”
