Fredrick Lynn Jarmon was an inmate at Johnson County Jail in Cleburne, Texas, when he was found unresponsive due to health issues. He was ultimately transferred to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth before he died on March 19, 2020.

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) has been assigned oversight of Texas county jails. As part of that responsibility, the organization invites complaints against jails to be sent to them. Data on jail complaints consistently shows that the majority of jail complaints are related to alleged medical neglect.

When inmates in Texas county jails die due to health problems, the families are sometimes confused about how their loved one’s health could have declined so rapidly. This was the case in connection with the custodial death of a 37-year-old man. The man had mental health problems but the family had discovered that when he occasionally landed in jail, the police and jailers in the city seemed to provide sufficient care.

Upon his last incarceration, the family discovered through a family member who was also booked into the local jail that their loved one was in bad health. A few months later, they were advised that he had collapsed and died in jail. They were also shocked to learn that he had contracted tuberculosis while incarcerated and his body was covered in bruises. They have since questioned whether their loved one received adequate medical care in the Texas county jail where he died.

This website’s posts are intended as potentially helpful resources for Texas city and county jail inmates and their families. On this site, there is no intent to denote improprieties on the part of persons or institutions.

–Guest Contributor