{"id":224044,"date":"2025-09-13T16:59:27","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T16:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/224044\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T16:59:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T16:59:27","slug":"bexar-gives-back-diversion-program-saves-taxpayers-2-2m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/224044\/","title":{"rendered":"Bexar Gives Back diversion program, saves taxpayers $2.2M"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Tuesday\u2019s Commissioners Court meeting, Sheriff Javier Salazar and a panel of judges presented a $2.2 million check to mark taxpayer savings from Bexar Gives Back, a diversion program launched in 2020 that steers low-level offenders away from jail.<\/p>\n

The program allows participating judges to sentence nonviolent misdemeanor offenders to supervised community service instead of jail time. <\/p>\n

Participants log hours through groundskeeping at sheriff\u2019s facilities, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and cleaning county parks, including flood cleanups.<\/p>\n

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Since its inception, Salazar said, \u201cwell over a couple hundred\u201d people have gone through Bexar Gives Back, with several dozen typically active at a time.<\/p>\n

County officials said the $2.2 million figure combines the avoided cost of jail days \u2014 estimated at $80 to $100 per inmate per day \u2014 with the value of community service hours, calculated at $15 to $20 an hour for work such as landscaping and cleanup.<\/p>\n

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But the goal goes beyond saving money. Salazar described it as a way to keep families stable, reduce recidivism and ease pressure on an already strained jail.<\/p>\n

\u201cJail is not the most appropriate approach for everyone,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are people who are too dangerous to walk amongst us, absolutely. But there are also people caught up in the system who would be better served, and would better serve the community being out with their family, remaining gainfully employed and continuing to give back.\u201d<\/p>\n

County Court Judge Carlo Key, who now supervises the initiative, told commissioners that participants often feel pride in their contributions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI see these people get vested in it,\u201d Key said. \u201cThey\u2019re proud of the work they do. It\u2019s a great program and we\u2019re doing great things with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

While participants benefit from staying connected to work and family, Precinct 1 Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores stressed the program\u2019s countywide impact. The newly approved budget set aside $15 million for jail overtime to meet population demands, a cost she said programs like Bexar Gives Back help reduce.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt alleviates jail overcrowding and eases the workload on our deputies who would otherwise be tasked with supervising inmates,\u201d Clay-Flores said. \u201cThat [workload] adds up to overtime and a higher cost of taxpayer dollars, which affects our general fund budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar poses for a photo during a Commissioners Court meeting on Tuesday. Credit: Diego Medel \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Salazar said participants often express gratitude when he stops by to check on Saturday work crews. Many tell him they feared losing their jobs or being separated from their children if they were jailed. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf they can pick up a lawnmower and cut some grass instead, they\u2019re thankful for that second chance,\u201d he said, adding that diversion programs like this are a smarter alternative to jail expansion, which county leaders continue to debate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a good long-term solution,\u201d he said. \u201cWe could double the size of the jail and it would fill up just like that,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we keep doing more of the same, they can make this jail as big as they want, and it\u2019s going to continue to fill \u2014 or we can get smarter about the way we handle this stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

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