La Salle examines GPS monitoring detainees on controlled release

By Marc Robertson - Editor | July 16, 2025

“This looks like it might be a great idea…”

Those arrested in La Salle County with serious medical conditions while being deemed low-risk detainees may soon be released from jail and monitored by the sheriff’s office with GPS-linked ankle bracelets.
The move by the La Salle County sheriff comes a year after a similar program was initiated by Sheriffs Mike Morse and Peter Salinas in Frio County, where detainees considered safe for monitored release are allowed to go home between scheduled court dates.
In La Salle County, the decision to investigate an ankle monitor system for controlled release of low-risk detainees has been principally based on the financial burden brought upon the county by jail inmates requiring high-cost medical services.
In a brief presentation to county commissioners Monday, July 7, Chief Deputy Armando Romo said he and Sheriff Hector Ramirez have examined the expense of transporting detainees to San Antonio and of providing other medical-related services, and have identified those who are deemed a minimal threat to the public but represent a considerable financial burden.
“We have to minimize costs at the county jail, especially medical costs,” the chief deputy said. “This looks like it might be a great idea. This is for low-risk persons.
“There have been some serious medical costs since January,” Romo added, “and these have been for transportation.”
The estimated cost of a GPS-tracked ankle bracelet per inmate is $12 a day, approximately $360 a month, the chief deputy said, which represents a lower cost than continual transports to medical facilities in other cities.
The sheriff’s office will expect those requiring medical services to use their own insurance or other service providers to cover transport expenses. Detainees’ movements can be tracked on the monitoring system, which is overseen by the sheriff’s office.
Sheriff Ramirez has identified EPS Monitoring as the company to conduct a trial run of the program in La Salle. The same company offers the GPS ankle monitor program for the Frio County Sheriff’s Office.
“If this is a pilot program, why can’t we do a study for free?” County Judge Leodoro Martinez asked.
Chief Romo said the program will trace the movements of all detainees on controlled release 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“So, instead of being in jail, using our medical provisions,” the county judge said. “And there’s a strict perimeter.”
Commissioners were presented with the proposal for discussion and were not asked to cast a vote on whether to initiate the controlled-release program in La Salle County.
Judge Martinez said he believes the court will want to learn more about the program and its safety features before agreeing to allow Sheriff Ramirez to release jail inmates with ankle monitors.
“We will bring in the company, and they can give us the whole run-down,” the county judge said. “I can interrogate them then.”