On July 31, 2023, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department filed a custodial report for Leslie Joron Thackston. Ms. Thackson was booked as a detainee in the Dallas County Jail on July 15, 2023. On July 18, 2023, she was transported by ambulance to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where Dr. Sarah Wells pronounced 44-year-old Leslie Thackson deceased.

5 of 10 Areas of Noncompliance Impact Suicide Prevention

Red River County Jail’s address is 500 North Cedar Street, Clarksville, Texas, 75426. Inspectors with Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) conducted the 2023 annual inspection of Red River County Jail and issued a noncompliance report on February 23, 2023. The jail was cited for noncompliance with ten minimum jail standards. Five of them contribute to suicide prevention.

Rule §265.3-Observation During Holding

In the chapter on Admission, Rule §265.3-Observation During Holding mandates the following:

• Inmates confined in a holding cell or detoxification cell shall be observed by facility personnel at intervals not to exceed 30 minutes.

One of the purposes of enhanced supervision is to limit the amount of time a suicidal inmate has to fashion a ligature or in some other way to make a suicide attempt. The following is the inspector’s note:

• Observations of inmates in holding and detoxification cells routinely exceeded the required 30-minute period.

Learn more in Part 1 and 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