Duval County Jail in Texas Non-compliant – Fails State Inspection
The Duval County jail recently failed an inspection by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (“TCJS”). The TCJS conducted an inspection of the jail, in San Diego, Texas. San Diego, Texas is west of Corpus Christi.
The TCJS inspector noted a number of deficiencies. First, intercoms in holding cells 209 and 210, and detox cells, did not work as designed. It is vitally important that prisoners in holding and detox cells be able to communicate with jail staff. Prisoners in holding and detox cells are typically those at highest risk of serious injury or death.
Second, the Duval County jail violated the Texas Administrative Code requirement that all life safety equipment be periodically inspected. The TCJS inspector noted that the last inspection of the fire panel was conducted on April 3, 2018.
Further, Texas jails have an obligation to verify the veteran status of each prisoner by using data made available through a governmental agency. Duval County jail staff were unable to provide reporting logs for 2018 or 2019, and they likewise could not prove that each prisoner was entered into the Veterans Re-entry Search Service System. Duval County, Texas jail staff also were unable to show compliance with appropriate prisoner classification standards. Jail administration was unable to produce the original classification document for several inmates.
The last two items listed on the report are perhaps the most serious. Texas county jails are required to use a form issued by the TCJS to screen new prisoners, during booking, for certain physical and psychological issues. Intake screening is, in part, to identify prisoners who are observed to mentally disabled and/or potentially suicidal. The inspector noted that mental health screening forms were often missing from Duval County Sheriff’s Department files. Further, the inspector could not verify whether local health officials were notified when necessary as required by Texas minimum jail standards and Texas law.
Finally, and equally troubling, the TCJS inspector determined that one of the jailers would document physical face-to-face observation of prisoners when in fact such observations did not occur during a certain shift. TCJS standards requires that certain face-to-face observations be made by jailers, at specified intervals. This is an important requirement for prisoner safety, especially for prisoners who are detoxing and/or potentially suicidal. Hopefully, Duval County will quickly remedy these issues.
Dean Malone
Dean Malone