Voters in Hood County, Texas, will decide on two propositions regarding bond sales for infrastructure improvements this November. County commissioners have approved placing the two measures on the Nov. 4 ballot. Proposition A seeks funds to expand the county jail facility to mitigate overcrowding, while Proposition B calls for funding road improvements across the county.
The move comes after voters rejected a $50 million jail bond in November 2024. County officials say rapid population growth has strained the jail system and county roads in recent years.
The two measures total $149 million, with Proposition A at $24 million and Proposition B at $125 million.
Proposition A would provide a $24 million bond package to expand and renovate the county’s law enforcement center and jail. Recent growth has overcrowded the county jail, according to officials, leading to increased costs.
Law enforcement currently houses overflow inmates in other jails across Texas and Oklahoma, which costs significantly more according to a cost analysis study conducted by Eide Bailly for the county. The study shows expanding the jail would save an estimated $70 million over 20 years.
The current jail facility, built in 1995, has 192 beds, while the county has housed an average of approximately 235 inmates over the last couple of years. The expansion plan proposes a primary addition of 161 new beds, with an optional 32 additional beds available. That would bring the total potential capacity to 385 beds if approved.
Proposition B allocates $125 million for nine transportation projects identified as priorities in the county’s Master Thoroughfare Plan. The projects include four “on-system” roads that are part of the state-maintained network overseen by TxDOT and five “off-system” roads managed at the county level.
County officials say the bond will leverage state and federal funding to maximize the impact of local tax dollars on congested corridors including State Highway 144, U.S. Highway 377, Fall Creek Highway and State Highway 171 near Cresson.
The transportation bond follows a year-long public input process through the Master Thoroughfare Plan, which the commissioners court adopted in early 2025.
If voters approve the measures, the county expects to issue bonds in 2026 with construction on the jail expansion beginning in 2027 and lasting two years. The county has not provided a specific timeline for the individual transportation projects, though they are expected to follow a similar construction schedule.
Photo by Nicolas Henderson from Coppell, Texas, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, from Wikimedia Commons
