On June 7, 2021, Armando Wayne Rubio became an inmate of Jones County Jail in Anson, Texas. He was escorted to Medical on August 2, 2021, after a jailer asked how he was doing and the 40-year-old said he didn’t feel well. Medical personnel at the jail had Mr. Rubio transferred to a nearby hospital, where he died predawn on August 3, 2021.

Although most complaints are related to medical care for inmates, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) provides health directives in the minimum jail standards for the state’s county jails. For instance, TCJS approves the use of restraints, including restraint chairs. There are, however, set guidelines for using restraints, and health is a primary consideration. See more below.

RULE §273.6 – Restraints

RULE §273.6 is found in the chapter regarding Health Services, and details for providing medical care are related to restraints, as follows:

• A prisoners’ medical condition must be ascertained by an appropriate member of the jail staff before restraints are applied.
• Any restraint that is used on an inmate must not worsen any physical infirmities he or she may have.
• Circulation to an inmate’s extremities could be cut off by restraints. Face-to-face checks of inmates in restraints are required every 15 minutes at most and checking for circulation issues must be part of the process.
• After two hours in restraints, maximum, an inmate must be provided with medical care that includes taking vital signs, allowing for exercise of the extremities, and using toilet facilities.

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

Providing help for prisoners in Texas county jails is the purpose of this website’s posts. It is never intended to infer misdeeds on individuals or institutions.

–Guest Contributor