Justin Joshua Flores was seen taking his medication at 9:30 pm on December 6, 2021, at El Paso County Jail in El Paso, Texas. Just over an hour later, other inmates contacted the guard station through the intercom system saying Mr. Flores had passed out and wasn’t breathing. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly before midnight the same day.

Non-compliance with minimum jail standards in county jails is sometimes an indication that inmates have been vulnerable to potential harm. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) sets the guidelines for operation. Accountability is primarily achieved through annual jail inspections. Texas jail inspection reports include details on the rule that was broken and notes from the TCJS inspector.

As far as medical attention for inmates, only in a few areas related to their physical safety seem to be measurable through inspections involving perusal of jail documentation. Observing inmates in restraints is among them. Determining whether supervision of at-risk inmates has occurred as required includes weighing records kept automatically by electronic equipment against manual documentation recorded by jail staff members. 

The following note by a TCJS inspector is in regard to alleged violation of the rule requiring inmates in restraints to be checked in intervals no greater than every 15 minutes.

When documentaion was reviewed, it was discovered that the 15-minute observations were exceeded multiple times by anywhere between 1 to 23 minutes.

See Part 1 and Part 2 of this three-part series to learn more.

There is never an intention on this website to make insinuations that a person or organization has been engaged in wrongdoing. Providing beneficial information to inmates currently or previously detained in a county jail in Texas is the purpose of the posts on this site.

–Guest Contributor