Jefferson County, Texas Jail Fails State Inspection – Jailers Failed to Properly Observe Restrained Prisoners

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (“TCJS”) recently inspected the Jefferson County, Texas jail.  The jail was found to be not in compliance with TCJS standards.  Perhaps the most troubling violation was the failure of Jefferson County, Texas jailers to perform 15-minute observations of inmates who had been restrained. Presumably, this would include use of a restraint chair.

The TCJS inspector noted, after reviewing restraint logs, that documented 15-minute observations were exceeded by as little as one minute, but by as much as 105 minutes.  This is unacceptable.  Hopefully, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department will remedy this and other issues found by the TCJS inspector.

Prisoners in Texas county jails, and city jails and holding facilities, have constitutional rights pursuant to the 4^th Amendment and 14^th Amendment.  If those rights are violated, such prisoners, and in the unfortunate event of such a prisoner’s death the prisoners’ family, can bring suit for resulting damages.

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.