Soon after 35-year-old Matthew Tyler Fox was incarcerated in the Val Verde County Jail in Del Rio, Texas, on December 16, 2018, he was placed in a medical observation tank. In withdrawal due to a drug or alcohol addiction, Fox was at risk for suicide. During an observation check two days after being booked into the Paris, Texas, jail, Fox was found to have committed suicide.

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) determines minimum jail standards, and procedures for suicide prevention are included. The following is one of the suicide prevention measures:

Texas Administrative Code, Title 37, Part 9, Chapter 273, RULE §273.5(1) — Mental Disabilities/Suicide Prevention Plan

A jail’s suicide prevention plan must include specifics on the training of jailers regarding procedures for recognizing, supervising, handling, and documenting prisoners who are potentially suicidal or mentally disabled. The staff members who are responsible for conducting intake screening must have supplemental training, as well.

A Jail Inspection Report for a Texas county jail dated January 29, 2021, reflects non-compliance in the rule cited above. The following is the information conveyed by the TCJS inspector:

• Documentation of training rosters could not be provided by the administration to indicate that jailers were provided with the required suicide prevention training in accordance with the operational plan for preventing inmate suicide that had been approved for the jail.

See Part 1 of this continuing series.

Posts are provided on this website to help inmates now or previously incarcerated in Texas county jails. It is not intended on this site to infer improprieties on organizations or persons.

–Guest Contributor