Twenty-four-year-old Dvonte Marquese Valentine was booked into Smith County Jail in Tyler, Texas, on November 16, 2022. While still incarcerated, he was pronounced deceased on December 4, 2022. The address of Smith County Jail is 800 E. Dawson Dr., Tyler, Texas 75701. His cause of death is pending the results of an autopsy, but the custodial death report (CDR) suggests the death followed injuries sustained in the jail.

Smith County Jail Fails a March 22-24, 2022, Comprehensive Inspection

Smith County Jail in Tyler, Texas, was found non-compliant after three separate inspections in 2022. In 2022, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards cited the jail for alleged failure to meet minimum jail standards after a February 18 inspection, a March 3 inspection, and a March 22-24 inspection.

The latest jail inspection report in which Smith County Jail was cited for noncompliance shows six alleged violations of jail standards per TCJS Inspectors Michael Gravitt, Jason Jouett, and Byron Shelton. Some details follow.

Chapter 259-New Construction Rules

In violation of Chapter 259, which addresses New Construction Rules, inmates are not to be held in holding cells for longer than 48 hours.

• TCJS Inspectors found that deficiencies still existed in reference to inmates being held in holding cells for longer than 48 hours.

Rule §273.6(3)-Restraints

Under Rule §273.6(3)-Restraints, inmates in restraints must be observed every 15 minutes maximum to check blood circulation to the extremities and security of the restraints.

• Inspectors reviewed restraint chair logs and it was observed that on multiple occasions the 15-minute time frame was exceeded by 1 to 10 minutes.

Learn more in this ongoing series.

This website is a resource for Texas prisoners in city and county jails. Making accusations that an individual or institution is a participant in wrongs is never intended.

–Guest Contributor