Does anyone know of anything that would compel the Sheriff to transport inmates to the courthouse for the purpose of getting married?

Not exactly. But the reason there are no cases on this is that up until Sept 2013, an inmate could be married by proxy marriage in Texas. Now, the law has changed. I believe only military absentees can be married by proxy now. The other spouse can still get the marriage license and then come to the jail where the chaplain marries the love birds. TDC does not perform marriages in prison, and perhaps your jail doesn't either. Still to be litigated: does the new law create a legal issue, given federal case law that supports the right of prisoners to marry?

The end of proxy marriages is what is driving this question. I think a big concern of the sheriff is how many people you have to let come in for the ceremony; do you think we could enact some written rules limiting who can come in, and maybe what days the ceremony could be performed? Also, most of the folks interested in marriage are about to catch the chain to TDC. What do you think about limiting the ability to have a marriage in jail to that class of inmate? Arguably, inmates there on misdemeanors will be released sooner.

Ok, just guessing and not having done any research, I don't think the right to marry while incarcerated includes the right to have anyone present but the other spouse-to-be and an officiant. I am not sure why the sheriff would want to limit it to the sub-class of inmate who is about to catch the chain, but I'd caution you against going along with that unless you really researched that. I think you could limit it to certain days - wedding Wednesdays, anyone? But I would think real hard before making it unduly difficult or restricted without a good reason.

I really have no words to describe how silly this seems to me...

When I was a baby lawyer in El Paso, they used to do proxy marriage ceremonies on the street in front of the jail. One person with the ceremony would write out what was being said in big "air letters." The inmates could watch out windows, and would write back, using a piece of white paper so that you could seen their hand behind the tinted glass several stories up. I kid you not.