Before the monthly jail inspections were ordered by the governor of the state, the U.S. Marshals Service reported on civil rights violations and inhumane conditions in November 2019. The most disturbing part of their find was that state inspections had routinely reported that few conditions were in non-compliance with jail standards.

With the heightened efforts to ensure proper procedures in conducting a jail inspection, the jail was found to be non-compliant with 84 minimum jail standards as set out by that state.

A jail inspection in the summer of 2019 cited the jail for violation of 66 minimum jail standards. Those violations included problems in the following areas:

• Foodservice
• Inmate discipline
• Unsanitary conditions
• Mental healthcare
• Medical care of inmates

A problem with state inspections themselves has been a huge focus of the effort to resolve problems that have been so evident at this particular county jail. The governor of that state handed down new requirements for state inspections of jails, and the first of those requirements follows:

Eight additional jail inspectors will be hired as well as a nurse–these are new employees in addition to the previous roster of six inspectors. More than 300 jails and holding cells were overseen by six people, which is obviously an inadequate number. The way the governor described the situation was that the jail inspection staff was “grossly understaffed.” The reason a nurse was added to the jail inspection staff was to help sort out issues in the jails related to medical health and mental illness.

See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and this ongoing series to learn more about the out-of-state jail being subjected to inspections every month for over a year plus actions taken to change the way inspections are conducted.

This and all blog posts on this site are intended as informational resources. What is not intended is to imply that an institution or individual engaged in wrongdoing.

–Guest Contributor