Forty-four-year-old Leslie Joron Thackston was booked into Dallas County Jail on July 15, 2023, at 9:47 PM. Ms. Thackston died in the jail’s custody before three full days had passed. The address of the Dallas County Jail facility Ms. Thackston entered is 5200 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas TX 75235. County jail facilities in Dallas can hold 7,500 inmates.

How Harmful to Inmates Is the Noncompliance of Jails?

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TDJC) determines the minimum jail standards that all municipal and county jails in Texas must comply with. Annual inspections are conducted by inspectors with TDJC, and non-compliant jails are issued notices of noncompliance delineating the standards their facility has not complied with.

When a jail is deficient in an area, it is many times an indication that inmates are potentially at risk.

In February 2023 a Texas county jail was cited for failure to comply with 10 minimum jail standards. In this post and the continuing series, the areas of noncompliance will be considered as far as the overall risk that might be posed, for instance, in the area of suicide prevention.

5 of 10 Areas of Noncompliance Impact Suicide Prevention in a Texas County Jail

Suicide is the number one cause of death of inmates in local jails. For this reason, suicide prevention is of crucial importance.

Learn more in this continuing series.

Helping Texas inmates housed in county and municipal jails and their families is among the purposes of this website. It is never intended on this site to implicate individuals or institutions in acts of wrongdoing.

–Guest Contributor