Sixty-seven-year-old Carlos S. Contreras was still in a holding cell at Nueces County Jail in Corpus Christi, Texas, when he was found unresponsive on October 2, 2022. The date of his booking into the facility was September 27, 2022. The custodial death report (CDR) about Mr. Contreras provides no insights into what type of medical condition he may have had. The CDR does show, however, that he died of natural causes on the same day he was discovered nonresponsive.

News Source Claims Local Jail Healthcare is Unreliable at Best and, at Worst, Deadly

Results of investigative research into healthcare in county jails in the US that was conducted by a major news network did not invoke confidence in inmate medical care. Results related to women, in particular, are especially disturbing. Women have increasingly entered jail and died there. A predictable cycle appears to be that women who are arrested and locked up are denied the medical care needed, whether it involves detoxification, giving birth, or going without necessary mental healthcare.

On average, the number of local jail deaths in the US is higher when health care services are provided through privately contracted medical care services. Multiple investigations suggest that profit motives of privately owned healthcare companies consistently result in the medical neglect of inmates.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of this series.

When county and municipal jail inmates in Texas are seeking help, it is our hope that they will find resources they need on this website. Making insinuations that people or institutions are guilty of some type of wrongdoing is never intentional.

–Guest Contributor