Police Misconduct Attorney Beaumont – In Orange County, Texas, County Officials are concerned about the Cost of the Sandra Bland Act
Orange County, Texas, has a list of reasons to be concerned about potential costs associated with The Sandra Bland Act, which lacks only Governor Abbott’s signature to become law. Democrat John Whitmire from Houston introduced the act, which was named for Sandra Bland. She is the 28-year-old woman who was stopped allegedly for failure to use her blinker and ended up being arrested for assaulting an officer. A video of the encounter went viral and has been associated with nationwide outrage. A few days after the controversial arrest, Bland was found hanged to death in a Waller County jail cell. It was ruled a suicide. In its final form, the act doesn’t do everything Bland’s family hoped, they say, but it does place stricter requirements on jails with regard to mental health testing and accommodation. No state money was assigned to cover associated costs, which is what has Orange County officials worried.
In February 2017, 35-year-old Rosa Bonilla was discovered hanging in her jail cell in the Orange County Jail. She was transported to Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont, where she died two days later. Bonilla had been arrested by the Orange Police Department on a misdemeanor drug charge.
In April 2017, 59-year-old John Marcotte was discovered hanging in an Orange County jail cell. He survived.
One of the reasons Orange County is keeping an eye on costs is because in January 2017, commissioners voted to pay $3.1 million in a wrongful death lawsuit to the family of inmate Robert Montano who died after being held in solitary confinement in October 2011.
Requiring more mental health services to benefit inmates is a good thing, but failing to provide funding leaves individual cities with a new potential expense and budget item.
–Guest Contributor
smchugh
smchugh