The Bailey County Jail in Muleshoe, Texas, failed a jail inspection conducted by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS), per an October 18, 2022, Jail Inspection Report issued by Jason Jouett, TCJS Inspector. Bailey County Jail’s address is 405 W 2nd St, Muleshoe, TX 79347. Bailey County Jail is now listed as a Non-Compliant Jail on the TCJS website.

The TCJS inspector made notes regarding non-compliance with the following minimum jail standards:

§273.3- Health Instructions. This rule is listed under Health Services. The rule states that all medical instructions of designated physicians shall be followed.

• The inspector was unable to verify that medication was administered to inmates consistently as ordered by the physician.

§273.5(c)(1)- Mental Health/Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities History Check. This rule is also under Health Services. When each inmate goes through intake, their name must be checked against the Texas Health and Human Services Commission CCQ system for the purpose of determining whether the inmate has formerly received state mental healthcare or has a known developmental or intellectual disability. Exceptions are if the inmate is being housed as an out-of-state inmate or is a federal inmate on a contractual basis. In addition, information must be submitted to the magistrate and the Local Mental Health Authority or Local Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Authority as per the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP) Article 16.22 (a)(1).

• Mental Health/Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities screening forms were reviewed, and it was found on one occasion that an inmate who was booked into the jail on October 4, 2022, did not receive an inmate Mental Health/Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities screening form, which is a minimum jail standard and is required. This inspector discovered the discrepancy on the day of the inspection, 14 days later. It was then determined that the inmate in question had an “Exact” match on her CCQ, which required notification of the magistrate within 12 hours, in accordance with CCP 16.22. Further, it was found that the inmate replied “Yes” to four questions on the form requiring notification of additional staff to include Magistrate, Supervisor, Mental Health, and Medical.

When intake procedures are not conducted properly, one of the potential outcomes is that an at-risk inmate will not receive needed care. Housing is different for inmates with mental illness or suicidal ideations, and the level of supervision increases to two face-to-face checks every hour instead of one.