SHERIFF’S W I T H
M
S H E R I F F
T R A C Y
M U R P H R E E
DIFFICULT DAYS
any Texas cities were faced with frigid temperatures, power and water outages and shortages of food in the February winter storm. Sheriff Tracy Murphree states, “The Denton County Jail is like a small city. We are in charge of the well-being and care of around 1000 inmates. While other county offices are closed for the inclement weather, we are conducting business as usual.” He also added, “I am very proud of our Officers, staff and Facility Maintenance team that went above and beyond during those difficult days.” The Denton County Jail never lost power like so many others did during the winter storm. The jail has several generators that are in place should they be needed. The generators are tested regularly as
mandated by the state, to assure that they are functional. The temperature in the jail never went below the acceptable range but there were extra blankets handed out as needed for inmates. The Denton County Jail also never lost water, but because of the City of Denton’s Boil Water Notice, we were affected. We had to boil all water that was used for cooking and drinking. Igloo water coolers were purchased to be distributed throughout the jail. We also purchased 12,000 water bottles and 6000 pounds of ice.
Another challenge the jail faced was with our food supply. We rely on food deliveries and because trucks couldn’t make their routine deliveries, we were
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forced to revamp our menus to
continue to meet the needs of our
inmates. Our revamped menus met the mandated daily calorie count for the inmates set by the state.
Because of the treacherous road
conditions and dangerous temperatures, some of our Detention Officers were
forced to sleep in jail barracks that were
set up for them. Other Officers carpooled together making sure that they arrived in time for their shifts.
940.349.1600 | 127 N. WOODROW LN., STE. 300 • DENTON, TX 76205 | DENTONCOUNTY.COM/DEPARTMENTS/SHERIFF.ASPX 26 | LIFE IN CASTLE HILLS | MARCH 2021
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