The Wharton County Sheriff’s Department filed a custodial death report on 56-year-old Henry Donell Stephens, who died at the jail on January 15, 2021. The report indicates that Mr. Stephens died from a pre-existing medical condition.

Jail Inspection Report Dated 10/7/2021

A jail inspection report released on October 7th, 2021, says that a county jail in Texas was non-compliant with a portion of RULE §273.6-Restraints. Part (3) shows that inmates in restraints must be observed every 15 minutes at most. The observations must include checking to ensure that blood circulation to the extremities has not been cut off. Documentation of the observations is also required.

• According to an inspector with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS), the county jail’s documentation on observation checks of inmates in restraints indicates that there has been non-compliance. Jail staff exceeded the15-minute requirement for observation checks by 1 to 5 minutes on multiple occasions.

Special Jail Inspection Report Dated 4/8/2020

In an April 2020 special jail inspection report, an inspector found non-compliance regarding observation checks of inmates confined in a holding cell or detox cell. Inmates in these types of cells must be observed in intervals not to exceed 30 minutes.

Suicide prevention is a primary consideration when it comes to making observation checks in holding cells and detox cells. Supervision of inmates is the most effective deterrent to custodial suicides.

Learn more in Part 1 and this continuing series.

This website never purposes to imply that any individual or organization has participated in improprieties. Posts on this site are added to help county jail inmates in Texas.

 –Guest Contributor