Jeremy Alan Renkel was 41 years old when he died on May 30, 2021. He was in the custody of Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas, at the time of his death. The medical examiner listed natural causes as the manner of death.

Inmates in county jails have a right to health services, including mental, medical, and dental care. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) has mandated that each Texas county jail is to implement an approved health services plan. The following are among the medical care services for inmates that must be provided:

• Regularly scheduled sick calls
• Medical, mental, and dental care
• Prompt and efficient care during emergencies and in acute situations

TCJS has indicated at various times that most of the complaints directed at Texas county jails are in regard to inmate medical care. Information about all non-compliant jails is made public, and it does not appear that accountability measures encompass a way to expose all situations in which there may be lapses in standards of inmate medical care. However, the following details about a non-compliant Texas county jail show one of a few areas in which medical care requirements are routinely documented for perusal by TCJS inspectors. 

Jail Inspection Report on Non-Compliance Dated 10/6/21

According to Texas RULE §273.2 (7) in the Health Services Plan, procedures for distributing prescriptions in accordance with a doctor’s written instructions by an appropriate person who has been designated by the sheriff or other jail operator must be in place.

• In a jail inspection report dated October 6th, 2021, the TCJS inspector noted that medication administration records were reviewed, and the records did not show evidence that medications are being distributed to inmates in accordance with doctors’ written instructions.

Learn more in this ongoing series.

It is not intended on this website to infer wrongdoing on any person or organization. The purpose of each of this site’s posts is to assist county jail inmates in Texas, whether they are incarcerated currently or in the past.

–Guest Contributor