The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) conducted a special jail inspection at Harrison County Jail in Marshall, Texas, in June 2021. Apparently, the inspection was instigated following a March 1, 2021, inmate death. The name of the inmate was not named in that report. However, the February 3, 2022, release of a custodial death report (CDR) shows that 38-year-old Larry David Hurt arrived at Harrison County Jail on March 1, 2021, and was pronounced deceased that same day. The Harrison County Sheriff’s Department appears to have filed the custodial death report with the Attorney General of Texas about 10 months late because there is a 30-day deadline for filing CDRs.

Alleged Non-Compliance with Rule §273.5-Mental Disabilities/Suicide Prevention Plan

According to the special jail inspection report, a TCJS inspector found that Harrison County Jail was in violation of Rule §273.5-Mental Disabilities/Suicide Prevention Plan. The violation indicates that one of the intake forms had not been filled out in its entirety. That document was the Screening Form for Suicide and Medical/Mental/Developmental Impairments. Also lacking was documentation indicating that the inmate was either unable to complete the form or refused to do so.

The purpose of the Screening Form for Suicide and Medical/Mental/Developmental Impairments is to help jailers determine whether an inmate needs continuous monitoring or has need of immediate mental or medical health care.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and this ongoing series.

Helping inmates detained in Texas municipal and county jails is the purpose and aim of this website. There is no intention on this site of implicating individuals or organizations in acts of wrongdoing.

–Guest Contributor