Shelby County, Texas Jail – Texas Commission on Jail Standards Inspection
The Texas Commission on Jail Standards recently determined, after an inspection of the Shelby County, Texas jail, that the jail was not compliant with minimum standards set forth by the TCJS. The Shelby County jail was inspected on January 3, 2019. The TCJS inspector cited the standard requiring every Texas county jail to have an appropriate number of jailers at the facility 24 hours per day. Moreover, the standard requires that each jail must have documented face-to-face observation of inmates no less than once every hour, and at least once every 30 minutes for inmates who are potentially suicidal, mentally ill, and/or who have other certain issues.
The TCJS inspector determined, after conducting the Shelby County jail inspection, that “the inmate worker” had not been conducting the required hourly checks. In fact, the TCJS inspector determined that the jailer was allowed to leave his work assignment several times for up to two-and-one-half hours each day, and engage in alleged illegal activity. We have no personal knowledge as to the truthfulness of such an allegation, but are instead simply providing publicly-available information regarding the TCJS inspection report.
Dean Malone
Dean Malone