Smith County Jail is Cited for Multiple Violations in a 2/18/22 Report

A special jail inspection was conducted at Smith County Jail in Tyler, Texas, on February 18, 2022. An inspector with Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) cited the jail for three alleged violations of minimum jail standards. Each of them provides a separate demonstration of how inmates’ lives can be endangered when jailers do not meet the required operational standards established by TCJS.

Rule §263.41-Training and Drills

Rule §263.41-Training and Drills is in a chapter about life safety rules and the subchapter on plans and drills for emergencies. The requirement in this particular rule is that immediately upon employment, jailers must be provided with training for emergency situations. Training must occur no less than each quarter for all jail personnel. The training must include evacuation, emergency, and fire drills. Staff members must also be educated on the location and the use of emergency equipment.

• The TCJS inspector said in his notes that technical assistance was provided and documentation was requested in order to review and ensure compliance with minimum jail standards. Upon review of the documentation, it was discovered that there was no indication that staff members had received training during the second and third quarters of 2021

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, and Part 7 of this ongoing series. In the next segment, learn more about the alleged minimum standards violations included in the special inspection report referred to above.

This website seeks to provide information that may be helpful to Texas inmates who are now or were previously incarcerated in a local county or city jail. Intimating that a person or entity has been a participant in misdeeds is never intended on this site.

–Guest Contributor