During the booking process at Lamar County Jail on April 21, 2021, jailers recognized that Brian Christopher Jenkins was potentially suicidal. He received clothing that cannot be used to cause self-harm, but he was also issued a mattress cover. Jail staff found Jenkins dead as a result of hanging himself with the mattress cover.

As shared in the first installment of this series, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) has put various suicide prevention measures in the guidelines all Texas county jails are required to follow. What good can minimum jail standards do, however, if jails do not comply with requirements of operation?

Inspectors with TCJS conduct a jail inspection of the 241 county jails in Texas each year. There are currently only four inspectors to do the work, and the size of the workload has been used to suggest that jail inspections are not given adequate attention. Such speculation has been tied to evidence that jails in which a higher-than-usual number of inmates died had all been deemed compliant with minimum jail standards following their recent jail inspections.

A jail inspection report released in May 2021 provides an example of an issue of noncompliance that could understandably place some inmates at a higher level of risk than is necessary.

Noncompliance: RULE §271.1(a)(4) – Objective Classification Plan

It is stated in Rule §271.1(a)(4) of the Texas Code that separate housing should be provided for inmates at minimum and maximum custody levels. All other custody level inmates must be housed separately. Only when inmates are under direct, visual supervision can inmates of varying custody levels participate in program and work activities simultaneously.

• The inspector noted that the classification records were reviewed and showed that inmates in minimum and maximum custody levels had been housed together as a result of errors in the classification process.

See Part 1 of this continuing series.

With the aim of providing help to current and former prisoners in Texas county jails, this website adds informational posts. There is no intention of implying that persons or entities engaged in misdeeds.

–Guest Contributor