Stonewall County, Texas Jail Fails State Inspection
The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) lists Stonewall County Jail in Texas as a Non-Compliant Jail on the TCJS website. A notice of non-compliance was sent to Stonewall County Jail on October 4, 2023. The notice references a jail inspection report that was issued on September 28, 2023. A TCJS inspector found the Aspermont, Texas, jail allegedly non-compliant with two minimum jail standards.
The address of Stonewall County Jai has a 10-bed capacity and is located at 432 S Jefferson, Aspermont, TX 79502. Details on alleged 2023 noncompliance follow.
RULE §265.13(a) is in the chapter about Admission, and section 13 requires jails to Verify Veteran Status as follows: (a) Each sheriff/operator shall investigate and verify the veteran status of each prisoner by using data made available from the Veterans Reentry Search Service (VRSS) operated by the United States Department of Veteran Affairs or similar service.
- 1 of 2 inmates booked for the period did not have his veteran’s status verified.
RULE §271.7 (1)(2)(3)(4), in the chapter on the Classification and Separation of Inmates, is about Audit. The plan shall provide that an annual, internal audit shall be conducted on the classification system. Audit records shall be maintained for Commission review. The audit shall assess the following features of the objective classification system:
(1) inmates are classified prior to placement in inmate housing;
(2) inmates are housed according to their assigned custody levels;
(3) the override rate is acceptable; and
(4) classification instruments are completed in an accurate and timely manner.
- The staff at Stonewall County Jail could not produce a classification audit at the time of inspection.
The TCJS website still shows that Stonewall County Jail was issued a letter of non-compliance on July 10, 2023. The jail was allegedly non-compliant with three minimum jail standards, including Rule §273.5(1), which is about training as part of the suicide prevention program. It was discovered that, during the year 2022, the jail did not provide two hours of training for the staff in accordance with the approved Mental Disabilities/Suicide Prevention operational plan.
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