On January 3, 2023, Sheriff Larry Smith of the Smith County Sheriff’s Office filed a custodial death report (CDR) regarding the December 4, 2022, death of Dvonte Marquese Valentine. When he died at Mother Francis Hospital in Tyler, Texas, and when he first entered Smith County Jail on November 16, 2022, Mr. Valentine was 24 years old. He was still in the jail’s custody at the time of his death.

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

The following is more information from the March 22-24, 2022, jail inspection report citing Smith County Jail in Tyler, Texas, for alleged violations of minimum jail standards.

Rule §275.2- Jailers Training and Licensing

Per Rule §275.2- Jailers Training and Licensing, the personnel appointed or employed as jailers of county jails or assigned to directly supervise jailers must be licensed according to pertinent requirements of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

• During the Smith County Jail inspection, inspectors found that a detention officer (DO) employed at the jail had an expired license as of December 2021, per TCOLE records. Documentation revealed that the DO continued working without a license from December 20, 2021, through February 9, 2022.

Rule §275.4 -Staff

Under Rule §275.4 -Staff, inmates must be supervised by an adequate number of jailers. One jailer must be provided on each floor of the facility where 10 or more individuals are housed. Also, no less than 1 jailer per 48 inmates is required for direct inmate supervision.

• Inspectors with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) found that during the entire month of March 2022, Smith County Jail failed to staff the North Jail Facility and the Central Jail Facilities with the required number of jailers.

Learn more in Part 1 and 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