Bexar County Puts Jail Medical Care and Mental-Health Screening Under One Provider and Previews a Public Jail Dashboard
County staff and University Health told commissioners Tuesday that enhanced intake screening, new detox units and a diversion network are being tied together — and that a public dashboard would track jail population, in-custody deaths and medical measures.
Bexar County staff and University Health briefed county commissioners on Tuesday, Oct. 27, on a set of front-end medical and behavioral-health changes at the county's Adult Detention Center, aimed at improving triage, care continuity and transparency for the people booked into the jail.
The centerpiece is consolidation: medical care and mental-health screening and assessment brought under one provider. "The recommendation was that medical care and mental health screening and assessment be brought under one provider specifically to address gaps in communication [and] siloed services," Bexar County Public Health Director Dr. Andrea Guerrero told commissioners. The goal, she said, is a more efficient process that gives eligible detainees greater access to mental-health assessments, diversion opportunities and appropriate care after leaving the jail. The briefing also covered enhanced jail medical screening, new detox units and a diversion provider network.
The county's Office of Criminal Justice also previewed a public "jail dashboard" to track population, in-custody deaths and medical metrics. The same court meeting took up the cost of housing Bexar detainees elsewhere: commissioners approved amendments to the county's agreements with Kerr and Burnet counties, where Bexar has housed inmates because of population and capacity pressures, and authorized payment of past-due fiscal 2026 invoices of up to $383,165 for Kerr County and $1,183,224.17 for Burnet County — while acknowledging that transferring inmates outside Bexar County remains costly for taxpayers.
