Fifty-three-year-old Willie Florence Love, Jr. was an inmate at Dallas County Jail from December 27, 2022, until the day he died, which was February 22, 2023. The cause of death is unknown and pending autopsy results. The address of the Dallas County Jail is 111 W. Commerce St. Dallas, TX 75207.

A recent article addressing jail time for Texas inmates who are mentally ill found that workforce shortages in the state psychiatric hospital system prolong their stay. The state is set up to bring in more inmates from local and county jails who are in need of psychiatric treatment, but the beds remain empty for the simple reason that they cannot hire enough people to staff the hospitals.

This describes the predicament that 2,500 defendants with mental disabilities are in:

• A man was arrested and charged more than a year ago for murder. He remains in the jail unable to be tried. Why? Because a judge found that he was mentally incompetent. This means that he cannot fully understand what he has been charged with, and therefore can’t assist in his defense.

Long waits continue even though the state has invested millions of dollars into adding beds in the state psychiatric hospitals. Again, the state officials say they don’t have enough workers to manage them.

Over the past two decades, there has been a reported increase of 38% in people found incompetent to stand trial.

Learn more in this continuing series.

This website aims to provide resources helpful to Texas inmates detained in county and municipal jails. There is never an intention of insinuating that persons or organizations have been participants in wrongdoing.

–Guest Contributor