Burnet County Jail

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

Other counties wishing to house female inmates in the Burnet County Jail will be paying a higher cost per day after a vote Friday morning by the Burnet County Commissioners Court.

By Connie Swinney
Staff Writer

The Burnet County Sheriff's Office faces a personnel gap at the jail and has offered to pay “competitive” salaries to coax potential employees to the facility.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

Other counties will be paying more starting Oct. 1 to house their inmates at the Burnet County Jail.

From staff reports

Police tased a Granite Shoals man and charged him with attempted capital murder after he allegedly fired gunshots outside and from inside his travel trailer while officers were at his door step, according to a press release from the Granite Shoals Police Department.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

A Waco company will be making upgrades to the Burnet County Jail security system that will have the jail using manual controls for about a week during the installation.

After hearing a quick presentation from Sydaptic Inc., the Burnet County commissioners on Wednesday, Jan. 23, approved contracting with the company for $695,137 to install new hardware and software controls at the jail on Polk Avenue (Texas 29).

Sypdatic did not submit the lowest overall bid, but did submit what officials believed to be the best bid overall. Jail Capt. Matt Kimbler told commissioners a committee which studied bids submitted for the work recommended going with Sydaptic because of the amount of time the system would be down.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor •

 Burnet County commissioners have proposed a budget of $36.87 million for the upcoming fiscal year.

This story appeared in the Tuesday, Aug. 6, edition of The Highlander. It prompted a letter to the editor on Thursday, Aug. 10, also found here on HighlanderNews.com and to be included in the Friday, Aug. 11, print edition of The Highlander.

By Phil Reynolds

The Highlander

Llano County commissioners got an earful Monday from county residents who want to keep the county jail open.

Commissioners held a budget workshop but part of that involved a study by Precinct One Commissioner Peter Jones on the feasibility of turning Llano County Jail prisoners over to Burnet County under a contract yet to be written.

Jones emphasized that he hasn’t finished the study. But he said preliminary numbers indicate that the county could save some $170,000 a year by sending inmates to the reginal jail in Burnet.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

A preliminary investigation indicates the wife of a Burnet County Jail employee shot her spouse once in the back of the head Thursday, April 13, at their Lampasas home before turning the weapon on herself, according to Lampasas Assistant Police Chief Jody Cummings.

By Alexandria Randolph

Highland Lakes Newspapers

Llano City Police have released additional information on a rape case in which a Gatesville man was indicted last month.

Shane Nolan Taylor, 36, was indicted on July 5 on charges of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit other felonies, aggravated sexual assault, a first-degree felony, and sexual assault, a second degree felony, after an incident in a Llano County home on April 11.

Llano Police Chief Kevin Ratliff said Taylor was arrested after authorities said he broke into a woman’s home and raped her on April 11 between 9 and 10 a.m. Ratliff said Taylor made forcible entry into the woman's home in a duplex in the 700 block of East Sandstone Street.

“We believe he knew her, or had just met her,” Ratliff said. “He thought his girlfriend was in her house.”

BY ALEXANDRIA RANDOLPH

HIGHLAND LAKES NEWSPAPERS

Burnet County officials and law enforcement are preparing for an influx of inmates from nearby counties in coming weeks.

Burnet County Judge James Oakley said commissioners court approved contracts with three Texas counties on Tuesday to house inmates in overflow conditions or special circumstances, and the jail has hired additional staff to handle the increase. Hayes, Somerville, and Taylor county jails have all contracted for the ability to send inmates to Burnet County Jail.

Prior to new staff, the jail was only allowed up to house 240 inmates based on its staffing. The total capacity of the jail is 587.

“It's a See-Saw effect,” Oakley said. “As we bring in new inmates, we hire more jailors.”

In late June, commissioners voted to unfreeze eight positions at the jail to prepare for the influx of new inmates.