The Texas Commission on Jail Standards provides oversight of city and county jails in Texas. Jail inspections are conducted at least annually, and reports are prepared that detail any violations of jail standards that may have allegedly occurred. Jails have a duty to respond to such reports and correct the issues that have been identified, and they face consequences if changes are not made. Other states have similar organizations that provide jail oversight. In one state there is currently a lot of scrutiny with regard to lack of progress in resolving issues of concern. The jail inspection organization in that state is being accused of failing to identify problems related to the specific issues contributing to custodial deaths.

A member of the jail oversight organization was placed on administrative leave this month, and authoritative sources say that it is because of an ongoing internal investigation. One of the matters being investigated regards the organization allegedly misplacing a whistleblower complaint from a jail staff member who says a county jail was negligent with regard to the medical care of an inmate who died in custody. That particular custodial death is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Currently, the county and city jails in that state are under review for every custodial death that has occurred in the past five years, and the review is being conducted by the organization that enforces jail standards. That very organization, however, is the one accused of failures that allegedly contributed to custodial deaths.

Learn more about the story in this ongoing series.

Jails must uphold prisoners’ constitutional rights. If any custom, policy, or practice is deemed unconstitutional and causes the death of an inmate, a jail can be sued.

This post is meant as an informational resource, and there is no intention for this or any other post on this website to infer or imply misconduct or wrongdoing on the part of any person, organization, or governmental institution.

–Guest Contributor