Kleberg County Jail in Kingsville, Texas Fails State Inspection
The Kleberg County Jail, in Kingsville, Texas, is now listed as non-compliant by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (“TCJS”). This occurred as a result of an October 15, 2019 inspection. The Kleberg County Jail violated five different provisions of Texas jail standards.
The TCJS inspector noted that Kleberg County Jail staff were not conducting initial classification of inmates before housing them. This is a minimum jail standards requirement, and it is to be done by intake officers at the jail.
Further, and equally troubling, the TCJS inspector noted that Kleberg County Jail intake officers have not been consistently not identifying inmates who are known to be mentally disabled and/or potentially suicidal as required by the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. Further, such officers are not notifying magistrates within twelve hours as required by Texas law. This is a serious issue, because potentially suicidal inmates must be immediately identified and protected from themselves pursuant to the United States Constitution.
Further, Kleberg County jail staff are not observing inmates as required by TCJS standards. TCJS standards require observation of inmates who are mentally ill, potentially suicidal, assaultive, or who have demonstrated bizarre behavior no less than every 30 minutes. However, after the TCJS inspector reviewed observation logs, she determined that floor officers are not conducting face-to-face observations at least every 30 minutes in such areas. Instead, prisoner welfare checks exceeded the 30-minute requirement by as few as 3 minutes, and by as much as 52 minutes.
The TCJS inspector also noted that Kleberg County jail staff are not maintaining acceptable cleanliness throughout the facility. Officers are also not providing appropriate responses to prisoner grievances.
Dean Malone
Dean Malone