Thirty-four-year-old Julian Dena was transported to an emergency room within hours of being booked into Bexar County Jail in San Antonio, Texas, on July 27, 2020. The custodial death report indicates that an officer observed Dena swallowing a white substance during the booking process. Medical attention was not immediately provided, and Dena died on July 30, 2020.

Texas jails must operate according to minimum jail standards. The guidelines in place help to protect the rights of inmates and keep them and others safe. A basic right is to receive necessary medical care, especially when emergency medical services are needed. When jail staff members follow the requirements established by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS), violations such as deliberate indifference to an inmate’s needs can be avoided.

To ensure that jails are upholding minimum jail standards, TCJS inspectors inspect every Texas county jail annually. Four inspectors handle the workload of annual inspections of 241 jails plus special inspections for jails found to be in non-compliance.

In the next segment of this ongoing series, learn about a jail inspection report recently released in which the jail was non-compliant with regard to inmate supervision, an activity proven to be most effective in preventing custodial deaths. The area of alleged non-compliance is in Chapter 275 – Supervision of Inmates, Rule §275.1.

This website offers posts in the hopes of providing assistance to inmates currently or previously held in a county jail in Texas. There is at no time an intention to suggest improprieties on the part of institutions or individuals.

–Guest Contributor