When jailers found him in an unresponsive state, Jeffery Lynn Peters was a Galveston County Jail inmate.  Temporarily housed in the medical area of the facility in order to detox, the 59-year-old died on October 21, 2019.

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) has provided be following requirements for detoxification cells in Texas county jails.

RULE §261.333 – Detoxification Cells

Persons going through the detoxification process must be provided with a detoxification cell during detention. Therefore, any county jail in Texas anticipating that intoxicated people will be housed there must provide detoxification cells for placement of inmates going through the process of detoxification. The following are among the guidelines that detoxification cells must be built with:

• A bench or stationary benches must be built according to specifications to abut the walls of the cell.
• Each cell must also have drinking fountains or a lavatory that can provide drinking water. One or more of the following vandal-resistive plumbing features must also be provided in each cell:
  • Floor drains with outside controls
  • Toilet
  • Lavatory
• The location of the cell must be conducive to facilitating supervision of the cell area and to substantially reduce noise.

It is apparent that TCJS is aware that detoxification cells are basically essential components of Texas county jails. Yet, making adequate medical provisions for life-saving treatment of individuals in detox is seemingly a struggle in many county jurisdictions not only in Texas but throughout the U.S.

See Part 1 and Part 2 of this three-part series.

Posts are provided on this website as a way to potentially help current and former prisoners in Texas county jails. It is never intended on this website to infer that persons or organizations have been involved in wrongs of any sort.

–Guest Contributor