Smith County Commissioners learned on Tuesday they still have a record-low number of prisoners shipped out to other counties due to jail overcrowding — it’s 16 this week — down from a monthly average high of over 334 in September 2006.

Commissioners also learned that all 16 of the prisoners are female. Sheriff’s department officials have said that when the old jail was built in 1985, female prisoners were a smaller portion of the populace. That percentage has risen over the years. When the new jail expansion opens, it will have more beds for female inmates.

Smith County Sheriff Maj. Deal Folmar reports that the Texas Jail Commission has one more inspection slated before the new jail can be opened. Construction on the $35 million, six-story, 87,000-square-foot expansion of Smith County’s central jail was approved by voters in 2011.

Jail overcrowding has been an issue since 1986 — the county failed a jail inspection because of overcrowding less than a year after the facility opened.

The expansion should be open by the end of the month.