NewsWest 9
MIDLAND COUNTY - Too many inmates and not enough jail beds.
That's what the Midland County Sheriff's Office is dealing with.
Right now, the Midland County Jail has 423 inmates.
The problem is they only have 500 beds.
With summer right around the corner, the sheriff's department is worried that they may hit maximum capacity and fast.
Summer brings a significant higher number of arrests.
The sheriff says they're working to find a solution for the jail before they start seeing that rise in inmates.
Right now, the few options they have they're not sold on.
"If we have to, we can ship them. I don't want to do that. The taxpayers built a jail, we need to be able to use it. What's happening is the criminal justice system is being tremendously overloaded," Midland County Sheriff, Gary Painter, said.
Painter tell NewsWest 9, sending inmates to other facilities would be too costly.
Nearly ten years ago when they did that, it cost them $800,000.
One of the other options the sheriff also says they have is adding onto the jail.
