Duvall County, Texas Jail Fails State Inspection

The Duval County jail, in San Diego, Texas, recently failed an inspection by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (“TCJS”). The inspection occurred on April 5, 2021. The Duval County jail is now listed as being non-compliant by the TCJS.

The TCJS inspector found that the fire panel was in trouble mode at the time of the inspection, and the panel had been “red-tagged” since January 29, 2021. Issues noted by a technician had not been repaired.

Moreover, the TCJS inspector found two troubling issues with regard to inmates’ safety. TCJS standards require that observations of certain inmates occur every fifteen minutes, and that observations be face-to-face. The TCJS inspector determined that Duval County jailers did not document face-to-face observation of inmates in restraints every fifteen minutes as required.

Further, the TCJS requires that jailers observe inmates at least every thirty minutes in areas where inmates are known to be assaultive, potentially suicidal, mentally ill, or who have demonstrated bizarre behavior. The TCJS inspector determined that Duval County jailers exceeded the 30-minute face-to-face observations in such areas. This is a serious violation and could lead to injury or death. Further, regardless of TCJS standards, anything short of continuous observation of suicidal inmates is inadequate. It takes very few minutes to commit suicide using a ligature, and this is the common manner in which people in Texas jails unfortunately end their own lives.

Written By: Dean Malone

Dean Malone

Dean Malone is the founder of Law Offices of Dean Malone, P.C., a jail neglect civil rights law firm. Mr. Malone earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, and from Baylor University School of Law with a general civil litigation concentration. Mr. Malone served in several staff positions for the Baylor Law Review, including executive editor. Mr. Malone is an experienced trial lawyer, trying a number of cases to jury verdict and also handling arbitrations through final hearing. He heads the jail neglect section of his law firm, in which lawyers litigate cases involving serious injury and death resulting from jail neglect and abuse. Lawyers frequently refer cases to Mr. Malone due to his focus on this very complicated civil rights practice area.