Bexar County Jail

Should San Antonio have a diversion center? It could allow people with mental illness or intellectual disabilities to avoid going to jail for low-level misdemeanors and instead get treatment. It would help with overcrowding at the Bexar County Jail and could help direct people away from the cycle of the criminal justice system and into getting the help they need.

Costs continue to mount to house inmates in the Bexar County Adult Detention Center.

As of Tuesday, there were 5,144 inmates in the Bexar County Adult Detention Center, which is built to house 5,075.

Officials bused 150 local jail inmates to Burnet and Kerr counties after Bexar's jail population surpassed recommendations set by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.

Also, Sheriff Javier Salazar asked commissioners to approve more than $3 million in overtime costs to staff the crowded jail from this past June through September, sparking more debate on how to reduce costs there.

A $1.6 million grant aims to restore competency to mentally ill people so they can go to court. Reform advocates say they shouldn't have been there to begin with.

A class-action lawsuit says thousands of inmates are being detained longer than they should be.

Bexar County has heard two reports on its jail in the past two months from outside consultants

Air conditioning units are going offline. In one unit, guards report its getting above state minimum safety standards.

Both audits were voted on or contracted a year ago, but only one was released.