The cause of death of 28-year-old Edgar Alejandro Hernandez–an inmate at the Brownsville, Texas, Municipal Jail—is unknown. However, in the brief time leading up to his November 29, 2022, death, a white powdery substance in a plastic bag was found to be on his person. He was booked into the city jail about 17 hours before the moment in which he was pronounced deceased.

Length of Confinement in a Restraint Chair

Per the rules of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, the guideline addressing how long an inmate can be detained in a restraint chair follows:

• Once a resident is no longer a threat to others or self and detention staff can reasonably control him or her, he or she will be released from the restraint chair.
• Every 10 minutes, consideration must be given to removing the resident from the restraint chair.
• One hour is the maximum time of confinement for a resident in a restraint chair. Authorization by the facility administrator or designee to keep an inmate in the restraint chair longer than one hour may be obtained after the resident’s health condition has been assessed by one of the following licensed medical experts:
  • Paramedic
  • Emergency medical services (EMS/fire rescue) personnel
  • Physician (MD)
  • Physician’s Assistant (PA)
  • Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN)
  • Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
• The limit as far as how long an inmate in a juvenile detention facility in Texas may be confined in a restraint chair in any 24-hour cycle is 5 hours.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of this series.

This website has been established for the purpose of helping Texas inmates detained in city and county jails in Texas. Making insinuations that any individual or entity has engaged in wrongdoing is never intended.

–Guest Contributor