In a jail inspection report dated January 19, 2023, the Gonzales County Jail in Gonzales, Texas, was cited for four alleged violations of minimum jail standards. The report is signed by Inspector Martin P. Arnold with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS). Three of the alleged violations are in Chapter 263-Life Safety Rules of the Texas Administrative Code, and the fourth is Chapter 273-Health Services.

The address of Gonzales County Jail is 1713 E Sarah DeWitt Dr, Gonzales, TX 78629.

Details follow on the minimum standards Gonzales County Jail has been cited for, as currently posted on the TCJS page listing non-compliant jails.

§263.41-Training and Drill

When a staff member becomes employed with the jail, training for emergency situations must be provided immediately and no less than every calendar quarter for all jail personnel. This includes evacuation drills, emergency and fire drills, and location and use of equipment.

• During the inspection, records were reviewed. It was found that not all staff received the necessary quarterly fire/self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) training.

§263.55-Inspections, Maintenance, Testing

Inspection, maintenance, and testing by qualified persons is required for all life safety equipment. (The qualified individual can be by private or state agency, under vendor contract, or otherwise.) These safety checks are done to ensure that such equipment shall be fully operational at all times, secure, and safe.

• The fire panel was red-tagged on December 12, 2022, to indicate that it was impaired and/or faulty. The panel was serviced on January 11, 2023, and was white-tagged to show the repairs from the red tag, but the system had not been inspected to show that it was fully operational.

§263.56-Testing Emergency Power Equipment

At least once weekly, emergency power equipment must be tested, and the electric load must be transferred to the circuits at least once per month.

• From July 14, 2022, through September 11, 2022, documentation of emergency power equipment tests indicates that no tests were conducted.

§273.6(3)-Restraints

Face-to-face observations of inmates in restraints are required in intervals not to exceed every 15 minutes. During these observations, the security of the restraints must be assessed as well as the blood circulation to the inmate’s extremities.

• According to documentation, the use of restraints at Gonzales County Jail shows that an inmate in restraints was observed every 20 minutes.

Minimum jail standards that provide protections for inmates should be treated with top priority. Serious injuries and even death are possibilities when, for instance, restraint chairs are not used with strict adherence to safety guidelines.

–Guest Contributor