Press Release: Attorney General Finds No Need for Independent Investigation of Prisoner Deaths

Attorney General Finds No Need for Independent Investigation of Prisoner Deaths

For Immediate Release

Texas – February 12, 2026

Attorney General Ken Paxton found, in an opinion issued today, that county jails need only seek an outside investigation of a prisoner death only when the death occur within the confines of a county jail itself. The Attorney General determined: The phrase “death of a prisoner in a county jail” in Government Code subsection 511.021(a) requires appointment of an independent law enforcement agency to investigate a prisoner death that occurred in the county jail itself.” (Emphasis added). Therefore, no such investigation is necessary if the death occurs in an ambulance that is only 10 feet from jail property, or in a local hospital emergency department right after prisoner transport from the jail. A copy of the opinion is attached to this press release.

Constitutional rights lawyer Dean Malone represents families regarding jail deaths across Texas. Mr. Malone said, “This is an unfortunate decision and one which allows counties to avoid independent investigations if they can quickly transport a dying prisoner off of jail property. If a Texas county jail knows that a prisoner is near death, the jail can quickly take the person away from jail property, in a sheriff’s vehicle or ambulance, and avoid independent scrutiny of the death. This is yet another way for county jails to avoid responsibility for failing to treat detainees’ serious medical issues, a problem that my law firm sees time and again. And lest one think that this cannot happen, counties already regularly discharge people from custody when they know that the person is seriously ill and needs hospitalization. County jails do this to avoid the death occurring “in custody,’ thus avoiding responsibility for reporting the death to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards or Attorney General of Texas. Texans should know what happens in their county jails whenever a person dies needlessly. This opinion makes that goal much harder to reach. The Texas legislature or the Texas Commission on Jail Standards needs to take quick action to fix this problem.”

AG Opinion County Jail Deaths – Dean Malone

Written By: Dean Malone

Dean Malone

Dean Malone is the founder of Law Offices of Dean Malone, P.C., a jail neglect civil rights law firm. Mr. Malone earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, and from Baylor University School of Law with a general civil litigation concentration. Mr. Malone served in several staff positions for the Baylor Law Review, including executive editor. Mr. Malone is an experienced trial lawyer, trying a number of cases to jury verdict and also handling arbitrations through final hearing. He heads the jail neglect section of his law firm, in which lawyers litigate cases involving serious injury and death resulting from jail neglect and abuse. Lawyers frequently refer cases to Mr. Malone due to his focus on this very complicated civil rights practice area.