Enhance Support for the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS)

The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) makes recommendations to reduce jail overcrowding related to mentally ill inmates, drug-addicted inmates, and various other relevant areas. Supporting the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) is also seen as a way to prevent jail overcrowding.

TCJS has the responsibility of setting constitutional jails standards and enforcing compliance with rules and regulations through annual jail inspections. TCJS would need to be provided with resources to help with the overall effort to make Texas jails safer and better regulated through the avoidance of jail overcrowding.

TCJC suggests funding for additional staff and inspectors at TCJS. Currently, only five inspectors have the annual responsibility of comprehensively examining each of the 245 jails under TCJS jurisdiction. They could use additional staff to perform such tasks as:

• Providing timely technical assistance
• Making complaint investigations
• Providing clarifications of standards, and
• Overseeing mental and medical health practices.

With additional staff members and inspectors at TCJS, the quality and uniformity of jail inspections would improve.

TCJS offers training that is invaluable to many counties with budgeting challenges. In jails of all sizes, important areas of training such as classification of inmates, paper-ready processes, and population reports are frequently neglected because of stretched budgets. If the legislature would provide TCJS with additional resources, on-site trainings for jail personnel could continue free of charge. When Texas jail staff members are well trained, they are better equipped to perform at high levels with professional standards.

TCJC also believes that the Legislature should fully equip TCJS to expand its educational role in the prevention of jail overcrowding.

See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, and Part 8 of this continuing series.

Municipal and county jail inmates can find resources of potential benefit on this website. Making accusations against entities or persons is never intended on this site.

–Guest Contributor