Baylor County Jail is Cited for Non-Compliance
On May 28, 2024, Baylor County Jail in Seymour, Texas, underwent its annual jail inspection. Two days later, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) sent a notice of non-compliance to the jail. Baylor County Jail was cited for allegedly violating 3 minimum jail standards. Texas jails are rarely cited for the first of the three rule violations, and all are shown below.
According to TCJS inspectors, Baylor County Jail is using cells at the county courthouse to temporarily house inmates waiting to transfer to other counties. In the non-compliance notice, it states that the jail shall immediately cease using court-holding cells for new detainees. In another section about holding cells, the jail is cited for placing detainees in cells at the courthouse in which the toilet/lavatory combo had been removed due to corrosion.
Thirdly, it was discovered that the last official fire inspection was conducted in February 2022, making it 15 months late. A similar situation happened in April 2017, when it was discovered that the last fire prevention inspection was conducted in December 2015.
The address of Baylor County Jail is 101 South Washington Street, Seymour, Texas 76380. Baylor County Jail has an inmate capacity of 111.
Are Custodial Deaths in County Jails Common?
A watchdog group, Texas Justice Initiative (TJI), has statistics on all custodial deaths in Texas since 2005 when the vital information started being made available. TJI shows that there have been 1,937 deaths in county jails since that time.
There have been significant increases since 2021. The average number of detainee deaths per year in Texas counties was 92 through 2020. With just the figures from the past three years, the average number of inmate deaths from 2005 to 2023 jumps to 102 per year. Only three years through 2020 saw 100 or more custodial deaths. But in 2021, 2022, and 2023 respectively, 160, 150, and 150 deaths were reported.
What is the Most Common Cause of County Jail Deaths?
In Texas county jails, the most common cause of detainee deaths is suicide. Of the 419 incidents of suicide since 2005, 90% of them were carried out by means of hanging/strangulation. Jails are required to implement suicide prevention plans.
Are You Seeking Help Regarding Jail Neglect or Abuse?
Being placed in a county or municipal jail does not mean that an individual has lost fundamental rights. Jails should be held responsible when they abuse detainees or fail to provide necessary medical attention.
Have you lost a loved one who was held in a local Texas jail, and do you suspect the death was caused by neglect? Or were you previously incarcerated in a county or municipal jail and suffered life-altering injuries as a result of neglect? We are interested in helping in either of these scenarios. At the Law Offices of Dean Malone, we have an experienced team dedicated to custodial death cases. Our years of experience help in providing diligent representation.
Call us 24/7 by phone, text, or our online form to schedule your free case review.
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