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

Guidelines for suicide prevention and a mental disabilities plan are included in Rule §273.5(a)(2), another operational requirement that Smith County Jail in Tyler, Texas, allegedly violated, per a February 18, 2022, special jail inspection report.

RULE §273-Mental Disabilities/Suicide Prevention Plan

Rule §273.5(a)(2) addresses “Identification.” The minimum jail standard requires jailers to identify inmates who are potentially suicidal and/or known or observed to be disabled mentally. The rule is required for compliance with Article 16.22 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP) and referrals to available mental health officials.

The TCJS inspector indicated the following:

• A review of documentation provided for purposes of the June 2021 annual inspection showed that jail staff members, on multiple occasions, failed to notify the magistrate within 12 hours as required in Rule §273.5(a)(2). The notification exceeded the 12-hour timeframe by anywhere from 20 minutes 28 hours.

When the above rule was legislated, it made a significant impact on the magistration process for justices of the peace. The protocol includes that the magistrate may order the local mental health authority to collect information and provide an assessment. This is one of the requirements passed in 2017 between SB 1849, known as the Sandra Bland Act, and SB 1326, which amended Article 16.22 of the CCP. Learn more in the next installment of this series.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, and Part 8 of this series.

It is hoped that the posts on this website will be of benefit to prisoners in city and county jails in the state of Texas. There is no intention on this website of making insinuations against people or institutions.

–Guest Contributor