Tarrant County will move 432 inmates from its jail to a private one in Garza County because of a staffing shortage and planned maintenance in 2023.

Commissioners on Tuesday approved an $18 million contract with Giles W. Dalby Correctional Facility in Post, 38 miles southeast of Lubbock and 270 miles from Fort Worth. The jail is owned by Management & Training Corp., a Utah-based contractor that manages private prisons.

Harris County is spending $25 million to send 600 of its inmates there.

Several residents urged commissioners to reject the proposal. They expressed concerns about the jail ‘s private nature and inmates’ access to visits.

Commissioner Roy Brooks, too, said he didn’t think putting $18 million toward this agreement would solve the problems with overcrowding and staffing in Tarrant County.

Tarrant County Jail passed its most recent review from Texas Commission on Jail Standards.

Brooks and Devan Allen voted against the proposal. County Judge Glen Whitley and commissioners Gary Fickes and J.D. Johnson voted for it.

Problems at Tarrant County Jail with staffing and capacity speak to a larger problem across the state, jail officials told commissioners. Tarrant County Jail has 159 openings for detention officers and is not over capacity, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department said in an email.

Tarrant County chose the Garza jail because it was available, Sheriff Bill Waybourn told reporters after the agenda item went before commissioners. Waybourn said the county considered sending inmates to Louisiana.

The maintenance, scheduled for July 2023, will require the jail to pare 400 to 500 beds, county administrator G.K. Maenius said.

Staff writer Harriet Ramos contributed to this report.