Marion County, Texas Jail Fails State Inspection

The Marion County Jail, in Jefferson, Texas, recently failed an inspection by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS). The TCJS inspected the facility on December 17, 2021 and found a number of violations.

First, the TCJS inspector found that jail staff, on multiple occasions, failed to notify a magistrate judge within 24 hours as required by Texas law. This requirement exists when there are positive returns on what is known as a Continuity of Care Query (CCQ). A CCQ determines whether a person who is being brought into a Texas county jail had prior mental health treatment. A magistrate also must be notified if there are certain answers on the screening form for suicide and medical /mental/developmental impairments. This form is promulgated by the TCJS and is required to be used at the time of intake in every Texas county jail.

This is a serious violation, as our law firm has handled a number of jail suicide cases in Texas. If jail staff do not take seriously inmates’ mental condition at the time of intake, then they may not appropriately house inmates and/or keep an appropriate watch. This leads to far too many suicides, not only in Texas, but across the United States.

Second, the TCJS inspector determined, while reviewing medical files, that jail staff were not even completing the screening form for suicide and medical/mental/developmental impairments form in its entirety. This is particularly troubling, because the TCJS inspector noted that the problem was an area of technical assistance told to the jail during the annual inspection. There’s no excuse for not completing the mental health screening form in its entirety. Moreover, every county jail should be training its employees to do so.

Finally, and equally troubling, the TCJS inspector determined, when reviewing documentation of face-to-face observations of inmates, that Marion County, Texas jailers were exceeding the 30-minute observation interval by as few as two minutes and by as many as 45 minutes on a routine basis. The TCJS inspector also determined that properly documented rounds were being conducted via the camera system at the control station. This is insufficient.

TCJS standards require face-to-face observations, and these may not be done through closed-circuit TV. The TCJS requires observation of inmates at least every 30 minutes in areas in which inmates are known to be assaultive, potentially suicidal, or mentally ill, or who have demonstrated bizarre behavior. Our jail death law firm has found that even the 30-minute requirement for such inmates is insufficient. It takes as little as approximately three minutes for an inmate to commit suicide through use of a ligature.

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