Joshua Daniel Key entered Van Zandt County Jail on July 9, 2021. After he died on July 20, 2021, a Custodial Death Report was prepared and indicates that he died of natural causes related to a pre-existing condition.

According to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS), denial of medical care is the subject of many complaints made against Texas county jails. These alleged departures from compliance to minimum jail standards are only detected via jail inspections in certain circumstances.

For instance, when prisoners are held in restraints, electronic records are automatically made of the 15-minute checks that are required for medical reasons. The blood circulation to extremities can be cut off by restraints. It has been, therefore, deemed that the inmates must be checked in the quarter-hour time frame.

Information in regard to jails found non-compliant in conducting the face-to-face observations of inmates in restraints has been found in connection with the following Texas counties in recent months: Nacogdoches County Jail, Van Zandt County Jail, Uvalde County Jail, and Walker County Jail

Observation Violations When Inmates are in Restraints

• On October 13, 2020, a Jail Inspection Report shows that when inmates were held in a restraint chair, documentation indicates that on multiple occasions, 15-minute observation checks were between 1 and 16 minutes late.
• On an inspection report dated December 16, 2020, mandatory 15-minute observations of inmates behind held in a restraint chair were not conducted in the required time frames.

See Part 1 and this ongoing series.

It is not intended on this site to make implications that individuals or institutions engaged in wrongs. Posts provided on this website purpose to assist prisoners now or previously held in Texas county jails.

–Guest Contributor