The custodial death report for Roy Dale Parson indicates that a correctional officer discovered that the 59-year-old was unresponsive in his cell at Taylor County Jail. Jailers, medical staff, and EMTs attempted to revive Parson but he was pronounced dead upon arrival at an Abilene, Texas, hospital.

Supervision of inmates is known to be the greatest deterrent to custodial deaths. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) has provided mandatory guidelines for the operation of county jails in the state, and strict supervision of inmates is included.

Non-Compliance Regarding Inmate Supervision

In the general population of inmates, where more than 40% of custodial suicides occur, jailers are required to have a face-to-face observation of inmates every hour at most. In a jail inspection report in Texas that reflected non-compliance in this area, the following notes were made by a TCJS inspector who visited the jail.

• With regard to the 4th floor at the primary facility of the jail, the documentation did not reflect that face-to-face observations of the inmates had occurred on the day in which there was an inspection. In addition, there was no documentation to be found of any face-to-face visits to the inmates in that part of the facility for the entire month of November 2020 through December 15, 2020.

See Part 1 and this continuing series for more information.

The purpose of providing posts on this website is to potentially assist county jail inmates in Texas, whether or not their incarceration is current. There is no intention on this site to suggest that persons or institutions have engaged in wrongs of any sort.

–Guest Contributor