The changes that were proposed to improve conditions for inmates in the local jails throughout the state did not pass. The following are some of the many reports alleging that there are horrific conditions in some of the jails:

• An inmate reached under his bed frame and pulled out a handful of live cockroaches.
• It was observed that inmates were being moved into cells that had feces smeared in them and went uncleaned.
• It is alleged that desperately sick people who are incarcerated often lie for days in their own waste.

Many more details were provided to criminologists, and several testified that their scientific research demonstrates to a 95% degree of certainty that jail is criminogenic, which means that incarceration contributes to making a person more likely to be arrested again for a future crime.

A watchdog group pulled the above-referenced story into a larger look at jails across the nation. The number of custodial deaths is surging in one infamous jail in a state outside Texas. The group has found evidence that jails are in a more wretched state than usual.

In one large county jail, the infrastructure is currently crumbling, and in another jail and state, inmates are stuck with murky brown drinking water. They also mention overcrowding, which is a problem cited in several Texas jails.

Learn more in Part 1 of this continuing series.

Helping Texas jail detainees and their families with resources is one of the purposes of this website. There is no intention of suggesting that people or organizations have been involved in misdeeds.

–Guest Contributor