Forty-year-old Hector Lopez was arrested by the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office in San Antonio, Texas, and booked into Bexar County Jail on January 26, 2023. He was placed in a multiple occupancy cell. Mr. Lopez died of unknown causes on March 31, 2023, in the jail’s custody. The jail’s address is 200 N. Comal, San Antonio, Texas, 78207.

Bexar County Jail is Cited for 9 Violations of Minimum Jail Standards

Inspectors with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) conducted an inspection of Bexar County Jail on February 19 through 22, 2019. In this series of posts, several of the minimum jail standards that were violated will be explored.

Rule §273.5(a)(5)-Mental Disabilities/Suicide Prevention Plan-Supervision

Inmates that are potentially suicidal, mentally handicapped, assaultive, or found exhibiting bizarre behavior are placed in housing where supervision is mandated in increments not to exceed 15 minutes.

• Bexar County Jail’s observation logs were reviewed, and it was discovered that heightened supervision was not provided as required. The observation logs showed that on a continual basis, the timing of the 15-minute face-to-face observations was exceeded.

People are usually alone when they take a suicidal action, which is the reason that supervision is the most effective deterrent. An in-depth jail suicide prevention guide says that providing supervision is not simply about seeing the inmate. If a jailer sees evidence that the inmate may be in danger of suicide, prevention protocols should be followed. The first thing to do is maintain contact.

Helping Texas jail detainees and their families with resources is one of the purposes of this website. There is no intention of suggesting that people or organizations have been involved in misdeeds.

–Guest Contributor