The Nueces County Sheriff’s Office filed the custodial death (CDR) report for detainee Charles Benedict on August 8, 2023. Mr. Benedict was in the custody of Nueces County Jail in Corpus Christi, Texas, when he was pronounced deceased on April 13, 2023. County and municipal jails in Texas are required to report custodial deaths within 30 days. Mr. Benedict’s CDR, therefore, was filed with the Office of the Attorney General 3 months late.

Nueces County Jail is Cited by TCJS for Leaving Detainees in Holding Cells for 48+ Hours Continued

How does it affect detainees when the jail they are housed in leaves them in a holding cell for longer than minimum jail standards allow? The specifications for construction and furnishings for holding cells are practically all that is needed to answer that question.

When detainees remain in a holding cell longer than 48 hours, the most obvious problem is that there are no beds. Holding cells temporarily house multiple inmates, the maximum number of inmates in one holding cell is determined by the size of the cell.

Holding cells can be constructed to house from 1 to 24 inmates. They cannot contain less than 40 square feet of floor space for the first inmate and 18 square feet of floor space for each additional inmate to be confined.

Learn more in Part 1 and this ongoing series.

Helping Texas jail detainees and their families with resources is one of the purposes of this website. There is no intention of suggesting that people or organizations have been involved in misdeeds.

–Guest Contributor