Hardin County, Texas Jail Found Non-Compliant by Texas Commission on Jail Standards – More Jailers Needed

The Hardin County jail, in Texas, recently failed an inspection by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.  The TC JS inspector noted a number of jail standards violations.

The Hardin County jail is not staffing the jail with a sufficient number of jailers.  Inmates must be supervised by an adequate number of jailers to comply with State law.  However, they TCJS inspector noted, during a review of staffing rosters, that the Hardin County jail is not meeting the officer-to-inmate ratio at all times.  This is a violation of minimum Texas jail standards.

Moreover, the Hardin County jail is not keeping up with preventive maintenance.  The TCJS inspector made a list of a number of things that must be remedied by the Hardin County jail.  These things included no hot water in a sink, a toilet not working, needed cleaning, missing mirrors, and low water pressure.

Further, the TCJS inspector noted that, when reviewing prisoner grievances, jail staff are not providing a 15-day interim response on every grievance as required by minimum jail standards.  The jail also was not offering recreation to inmates for one hour at least three days per week.

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.