A custodial death report (CDR) was filed by the Cass County Sheriff’s Department on May 30, 2022, regarding 48-year-old Julie Ann Cherry. Ms. Cherry was arrested on public intoxication charges and booked into Cass County Jail at 9:54 PM on May 28, 2022. Fewer than 14 hours later, she was pronounced dead in the detox cell where she had been placed. The address of the Cass County Jail is listed as PO Box 180 in Linden, TX 75563.

Following annual jail inspections by inspectors with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS), Cass County Jail has been cited for failure to comply with one or more minimum jail standards at least three times since 2017.

Among other duties, TCJS establishes and promulgates reasonable procedures, minimum standards, enforcement policies, inspection procedures, and technical assistance related to the care, custody, and treatment of inmates. Concerns about inmate safety justifiably arise when a jail is discovered to have failed in meeting minimum requirements. Some jail requirements can obviously affect inmate safety, including several Cass County Jail was cited for in 2020.

Cass County Jail Cited for Non-Compliance in a November 19, 2020, Report

Under RULE §273.6-Restraints, jailers are required to provide a documented observation of an inmate who is being held in a restraint system in increments not to exceed every 15 minutes.

Learn what a TCJS inspector detailed as alleged non-compliance in the above-referenced report, including notes on the specific rule cited above, in this continuing series.

Implicating people or organizations in misdeeds is never intended on this website. Each post on this site seeks to provide helpful information benefiting inmates detained in county jails in Texas.

–Guest Contributor