Rains County, Texas Jail Fails State Inspection
The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) sent Rains County Jail a notice of noncompliance on January 16, 2024. The jail is now listed on the TCJS website with other non-compliant jails. The Emory, Texas, jail has been cited for violating one minimum jail standard per a jail inspection report issued on January 8, 2024. Rains County Jail has a bed capacity of 1,173 and is located at 313 W North St, Emory, TX 75440.
Rule §271.7 – Audit
TCJS inspectors found that Rains County Jail is noncompliant with Rule §271.7 – Audit, which is in the chapter on the Classification and Separation of Inmates. Under this rule, Texas jails must provide an internal audit of the classification system, during which they assess certain of its features.
During classification, an evaluation is made regarding the security level and treatment approaches that are appropriate for each detainee. The people who make up the population in the corrections system have vastly different backgrounds, educational levels, needs, skills, and behaviors. Accusations for which they are incarcerated span from murder to check fraud.
These are among the features assessed during an audit: Detainees are classified before being placed in housing. They are then housed in accordance with their assigned custody levels. The classification instruments must be completed in a timely and accurate manner.
The following is what was indicated by a TCJS inspector with regard to Rule §271.7 – Audit following the January inspection of Rains County Jail:
- On the day the jail inspection was conducted, the jail staff did not make the annual classification audit available for purposes of review. The most recent audit was conducted in May 2022, per the documentation provided.
Rains County Jail was also determined to be noncompliant in 2023 following an inspection in March of that year. The jail was cited for failing to comply with two rules, as follows:
- Under Rule §263.42-Fire Prevention Plan in the chapter on Life Safety Rules and the subchapter on Plans and Drills for Emergencies, the jail was allegedly 8 months overdue for the annual inspection, which is conducted by a local fire official. The last time there had been such an inspection was in August 2021.
- Under Rule §279.1(2)-Sanitation Plan, specified water and sewage systems must be inspected at least annually. This requirement was found to be 8 months past due. August 12, 2021, was the date of the last inspection by health authorities.
As a result of a jail inspection on February 9, 2022, Rains County Jail was cited for four violations of minimum jail standards. Two of those standards pertained to observations. When detainees are in a detox cell or holding cell, jailers are required to conduct a face-to-face observation every 30 minutes. Instead, documentation showed that only 60-minute observations were being conducted throughout the entire facility. The same 30-minute observation requirement pertains to detainees who are potentially suicidal, mentally ill, assaultive, or demonstrating bizarre behavior. These also took place every hour, in violation of the cited rule.
smchugh
smchugh