The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office at 5030 Hwy 69S in Beaumont, TX 77705, filed a custodial death report (CDR) about Derrick Richard Allen on September 30, 2022. Mr. Allen died at age 37 in the Jefferson County Jail’s custody after being incarcerated during the week of September 12, 2022, through September 19. His cause of death is not known. Autopsy results are pending.

Do Mentally Disabled Inmates in Texas County and Municipal Jails Get the Health Care Services They Need? Continued

The sheer numbers of mentally ill individuals who end up in county and municipal Texas jails are staggering. This issue isn’t just in Texas, however. A 2004-2005 survey revealed that the number of mentally ill individuals in the jails and prisons of 44 states is three times higher than such persons who are in hospitals.

A study of mentally ill inmates incarcerated in jails and prisons across the nation found that the percentage of people in locally-run jails such as county and municipal Texas jails is 44%. More key statistics from the study follow:

• One in four jail inmates experiences serious psychological distress.
• The percentage of police shootings in the year 2015 that involved a mental health crisis is 27%.
• Among the people jailed more than three times within one year, 27% of them have a moderate or serious mental illness.
• The lasting effects of incarceration include anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and impaired decision-making.

Learn more in Part 1 and this continuing series.

This website is meant as a resource that benefits county and municipal jail inmates in Texas. Insinuating that organizations or persons are perpetrators is never intended.

–Guest Contributor