The Runnels County Jail in Ballinger, Texas, was cited for minimum standards violations by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) in an August 2022 Notice of Non-Compliance letter. Information about another of the four alleged violations of minimum jail standards follows.

Non-Compliance Under §275.1-Regular Observation by Jailers

The minimum jail standard in §275.1-Regular Observation by Jailers is in a chapter about the supervision of inmates. This particular rule requires jailers to make face-to-face observations every 30 minutes in areas where at-risk prisoners are housed. The inmates who receive this heightened level of supervision are recognized as being potentially suicidal, assaultive, or mentally disabled. Inmates who have demonstrated bizarre behavior are also confined there.

• The TCJS inspector reviewed documentation which revealed that inmates had not been observed every 30 minutes at most, as required. On a routine basis, the maximum time frame for inmate observations was exceeded by anywhere from 1 to 48 minutes.

One of the alarming realities about county and municipal jails is that suicide is the leading cause of death. Suicide prevention measures are built into minimum standards, but the benefits of those measures are lost if they are neglected. Supervision is the leading strategy for preventing inmate suicide. Tragically, the rates of suicide in local jails have been increasing. One statistic shows that in 25 states since 2019, suicide rates increased by more than 30%.

See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and this continuing series.

The purpose of this site and ongoing posts is to provide helpful resources to Texas prisoners incarcerated in local jails. Making insinuations that entities or persons have participated in wrongdoing is never an intention.

–Guest Contributor