After less than a month of incarceration in Cooke County Jail in Gainesville, Texas, 57-year-old Kevin Patrick Cantwell died on May 1, 2022. His cause of death is unknown and pending results of the autopsy.

Care of Acutely Suicidal Inmates

The policies and procedures of a specific jail may include details on the proper supervision of an acutely suicidal inmate. As an example, the details on this matter for a county jail outside Texas encompass the following:

• If specified personnel identify that an inmate is acutely suicidal, the inmate must be hospitalized at one of the designated locations. These inmates will remain under the supervision, care, and treatment of mental health clinicians until such time as a competent medical authority determines that acute suicidal care is no longer required. At that point, the inmate is returned to the jail.
• Because an inmate is moved to direct mental health observation and control, no observation log of acute suicidal inmates is maintained.
• Until an acutely suicidal inmate is transported to one of the approved locations, he or she is placed on an Inmate Observation Log under “Intensive” observation. These inmates will be intensively observed, and observations must be documented on a Safety Cell Log.
• After an inmate is released from direct mental health observations, “Intensive” observation will be resumed until the inmate has been evaluated by the appointed medical professional. During the time of intensive observations, the inmate will only receive a safety blanket and their jail-issued outer garments. Such personal items as linens, t-shirts, socks, and undergarments will be withheld until the inmate is appropriately evaluated and cleared.
• No razors are issued to inmates being intensely observed. He or she will be given a “maintenance bag,” but there is no access to the commissary until his or her status changes.

Learn more in Part 1 and Part 2 of this continuing series.

Implicating a person or entity in any misdeed is never intended on this website. All posts added are meant as resources helpful to prisoners in county jails in Texas.

–Guest Contributor