The Safety Dividend: Economic Briefing on Fort Worth's Next Capital Era
Learn how public order and jail detention capacity function as economic infrastructure, priced into commercial rents, property values, and the cost of capital. Learn about Tarrant County's jail capacity (held around 90% full), and upcoming solutions that do not lower punitive deterrence against criminal behavior.
In May, Fort Worth authorized $845 million across six propositions while holding the debt service rate flat. However, it funded no police facility. The constraint sits on a balance sheet the city does not control: every Fort Worth arrest terminates at a Tarrant County intake desk, and that facility peaked at 89.4% of capacity in March and surpassed that amount during FIFA, against a 24% detention officer vacancy rate.
This briefing begins with Dr. Chicotsky's findings about large-city populations that misreport crime data and its deleterious implications on their economy.
Tarrant County's own color-coded jail benchmark sets its "green" threshold below the jail's normal operating population. Meaning, the facility has run in the elevated band as its default state since 2024. And the county holds roughly 452 state-sentenced inmates each month whom the State of Texas has not collected, the second-highest count in Texas, at an annual cost near $14 million against a reimbursement rate frozen since 2022.
Dr. Chicotsky's engagements with county commissioners, county attorneys, and private-sector stakeholders have identified approximately 1,000 additional detention beds that will be arranged with County-acquired warehouses, all within the existing tax rate while not increasing the existing debt service obligations.
This gathering brings together officeholders, law enforcement leadership, economists, city and county staff, builders, commercial landlords, bankers, and private capital principals.
Program & Speakers
5:30pm – Cash bar, small plate dining, and mingling
6:00pm – Program begins
National Anthem
Invocation from lay leader, Connie Blake, who is part of in-jail ministry.
Opening remarks: Fort Worth City leadership
Recognition of first responders and civic and capital stewards
Welcome and preface from Dr. Brandon Chicotsky
Panel:
Tarrant County Commissioner Matt Krause.
First Assistant Criminal District Attorney, Judge Robb Catalano.
Executive Director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT), Bob Leonard.
Deputy Constable and Tarrant County Law Enforcement Association Chairman, Adam Hanson.
Worthian's Mission: Advance pro-business policy with a focus on attracting long-term capital into the city. This is a non-partisan entity.
Enforcement reliability, detention capacity, municipal credit, and lawful non-tax revenue strategies all shape:
The cost of capital across development
The speed of transactions across industries
The risk profile facing investors and operators
The long-term stability of the city's economic base
Attendees receive a one-page leave-behind with the Proposition E project list, the jail capacity and staffing figures, a city-versus-county debt comparison, and the financing math with citations. A QR code for a more in-depth report will be provided as well.
Your participation helps shape the direction of the city and equips Worthian with the resources to advance policy frameworks tied to public safety capacity, bond execution, and long-term growth; and to develop and advocate for lawful, non-tax revenue mechanisms that increase capital inflows into Fort Worth.
How funds are utilized
Worthian invests funds into policy formation working teams, obtaining data resources to substantiate insights, and analysis software to assess historical precedent for issues related to capital flow to support infrastructure, public safety, and long-term liquidity for the city.
Advertising paid for by Worthian PAC, Fort Worth, Texas. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.