Crime can pay — when you're talking about the business of jail beds.

Officials in Garza County are seeking to recoup the costs from a new, $6.8 million law enforcement center by aggressively seeking out-of-county prisoners to fill a 96-bed jail at a price of $40 per night, per inmate.

Said Jail Administrator Jerald Stafford, in an Avalanche-Journal story:

"'I've got more officers that can deal with problems with the inmates," he said. 'I have more room to house the violent offenders away from the non-violent offenders.'"

Not unusual, really. The quirky part here is the way Garza County officials want to go about marketing the available space in the jail. From Sheriff Cliff Laws:

"Our main thing is to get out and be a sales type department to get people to bring us inmate (sic) for us to house."

A sales department in a sheriff's office? We're not the only ones raising an eyebrow over this.

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