Montgomery County Jail Fails in a Suicide Prevention Measure

Silhouette of barbed wires and watchtower of prison.

Montgomery County Jail in Conroe, Texas, has been added to the list of non-compliant jails on the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) website. A day after the July 25, 2024, jail inspection, the correspondence advising the jail of their non-compliance was sent. TCJS inspectors discovered that Montgomery County Jail violated three minimum jail standards.

Two of the rules violated by Montgomery County Jail are part of the overall suicide prevention plan. The following notes from the inspectors indicate areas in which they failed to protect potentially suicidal detainees:

It was discovered during the inspection that staff were not processing suicide screening forms as outlined in Code of Criminal Procedure Article 16.22.
Face-to-face observations for areas with potentially suicidal, assaultive, and mentally ill detainees as well as those who have exhibited bizarre behavior were not conducted at least every 30 minutes, as required in minimum jail standards. Jail staff exceeded the 30-minute rounds by 1 minute up to 31 minutes.

Montgomery County Jail’s address is 1 Criminal Justice Dr, Conroe, TX 77301. The jail has a housing capacity of approximately 1,253 inmates.

A Suicide Allegedly Occurs in Montgomery County Jail During Observation Rules Violations

Suicide prevention is an important responsibility in Texas jails because it is recognized as the leading cause of death in county and municipal jails. It is often discovered that jails fail in the all-important requirement to provide supervision according to the rules.

Last year a 67-year-old detainee at Montgomery County Jail fashioned a makeshift ligature and used it to hang himself. The reason he was in a single cell was because he requested it saying he was afraid of being assaulted. The custodial death report’s (CDR’s) summary of how his death occurred also indicates that he was checked at 4:14 pm, 4:36 pm, and 4:58 pm prior to being discovered hanging in his cell at 5:04 pm.

TCJS inspected the jail after the man’s tragic death. They reported that the Montgomery County Jail Administration conducted an internal investigation of the in-custody suicide. It was discovered that the face-to-face observations had not occurred because the detainee had placed a sheet over the cell door, obstructing their view. Although jailers made rounds during the timeframe mandated, the observations were invalid because the jailers did not view the inmate face to face, which is required.

Looking for Help with Jail Neglect or Abuse?

Being incarcerated in a county or municipal jail does not mean losing basic rights. When detainees are mistreated or denied necessary medical care, those responsible must be held accountable.

Have you lost a loved one in a Texas jail and believe their death was due to neglect? Or were you previously incarcerated and suffered life-altering injuries because of negligence? If so, we may be able to help. At the Law Offices of Dean Malone, our team focuses on custodial death cases, and our years of experience allow us to provide thorough and dedicated representation.

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