Freestone County Jail in Fairfield, Texas Fails State Inspection

The Freestone County jail, in Fairfield, Texas, recently failed a state inspection.  The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (“TCJS”) inspected the facility on May 8, 2020.  Failing a state inspection is not new for the Freestone County jail, and we previously posted about it failing another inspection on March 13, 2019.  Hopefully, the Freestone County jail will bring itself into compliance. 

The TCJS inspector noted that the Freestone County jail failed to comply with the standard requiring that at least one self-contained breathing apparatus be available and maintained in or near each facility control station, and that all county jail staff shall be trained, and quarterly drills conducted, in the use of the equipment.  The TCJS inspector noted that two jailers on duty were unable to charge and/or use the self-contained breathing apparatus.  This is a significant issue, because if a person attempted to commit suicide in the jail through asphyxiation, the breathing apparatus could be necessary life-saving equipment.

The TCJS inspector also noted in his report that the jail violated the provision that required it to provide procedures that require a qualified medical professional to review as soon as possible any prescription medication a prisoner is taking when the prisoner is taken into custody.  The TCJS inspector found, when reviewing medical procedures, that only a pharmacist was being used to review medications. 

Moreover, the TCJS inspector noted that the Freestone County jail violated the standard which requires that an approved mental disabilities/suicide prevention screening instrument shall be completed immediately on all inmates admitted.  The inspector noticed, when reviewing medical files, that jail staff were not completing the Screening Form for Suicide and Medical/Mental/Developmental Impairments in its entirety.

There is no excuse for Texas jailers not completing the form, because it is the form promulgated by the TCJS that all jailers should be trained to complete.  It is a basic tool, which all Texas county jailers should use.  Our law firm, in handling a significant number of suicide and medical care denial cases occurring in Texas county jails, is accustomed to reviewing this form.  Every jailer in Texas should know the form well and should be using it with every county jail admission. 

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.