Chad Douglas Farmer, age 45, was booked into Lubbock County Jail in Lubbock, Texas, on May 3, 2021, and was transferred to the area for medical center housing the following morning. He was found unresponsive in his bunk that night and was pronounced dead by an EMT a short time later.

Supervision of inmates is recognized as the best deterrent to custodial deaths. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) requires jailers to provide supervision as detailed in minimum jail standards, including while being detained in holding and detox cells.

Noncompliance: RULE §265.3 – Observation During Holding

Texas Administrative Code Title 37, Part 9, Chapter 265, Rule §265.3 specifies that prisoners confined in a detoxification or holding cell must be observed by jailers at intervals that do not exceed 30 minutes.

• During the annual inspection at a Texas County Jail, a TCJS inspector reviewed the detox and holding cells documentation for face-to-face observations and noticed that jailers routinely exceeded the 30-minute limit between observations. Checks of the holding and detox cells were made hourly instead of every half-hour, as required by minimum jail standards.

Noncompliance: RULE §275.1 – Regular Observation by Jailers

Texas Administrative Code Title 37, Part 9, Chapter 275, Rule §275.1 states that inmates who are mentally ill, potentially suicidal, known to be assaultive, or have behaved in a bizarre manner must be confined in an area of the jail where they will be observed at 30-minute intervals rather than the 60-minute time limit that applies among the general population.

• While reviewing documentation for face-to-face observations of potentially suicidal, assaultive, or mentally ill inmates and inmates behaving in a bizarre manner, the inspector found that jailers exceeded the required 30-minute time limit between checks.

See Part 1 of this continuing series.

This site’s posts are provided as helpful resources for Texas prisoners detained in a county jail, whether currently or previously. It is not intended on this site to infer wrongs on persons or organizations.

–Guest Contributor