Antonio Villa Mendoza committed suicide on February 1, 2020. He was alone in a cell at Ector County Jail in Odessa, Texas, and had been provided with a uniform to wear. He used the uniform to strangle himself.

According to a Texas county sheriff, the jail there has difficulty maintaining trained staff. What often happens is that larger jails from other counties offer more advancement and opportunity, and they hire their staff members. The guards left on staff end up working harder than ever for little pay. The sheriff also gave the perspective that the guards are locked up daily the same as the inmates—not something they see themselves doing for decades.

Staff shortages are often cited as a primary problem leading to non-compliance in county jails in the state.

Inmates can be endangered if supervision isn’t provided as required. For instance, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) allows restraints to be used to prevent inmates from causing harm to themselves or others. When in restraints, face-to-face observations are required every 15 minutes, during which time they are to ensure that blood circulation to extremities has not been cut off.

The following is an example of a June 2021 Texas Jail Inspection Report reflecting a violation of minimum jail standards as regards inmate supervision of inmates in restraints.

RULE §273.6 – Restraints

A TCJS inspector made the following note regarding the 30-minute requirement for inmate supervision:

• On two separate occasions in April 2021, the quarter-hour observations on inmates placed in restraints were not conducted.

Learn more in Part 1 and Part 2 of this three-part series.

This website provides posts for the purpose of helping Texas county jail inmates, whether currently or previously incarcerated. It is not intended on this site to infer that persons or entities engaged in wrongs.

–Guest Contributor