Sutton County, Texas Jail Fails State Inspection – Listed as Non-Compliant

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards recently conducted an inspection of the Sutton County jail, in  Sonora, Texas. The inspection occurred on January 29, 2021, and the Sutton County jail is now listed as being non-compliant by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.

The Sutton County jail violated a minimum training provision. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards inspector wrote, “ The administration could not provide training documentation rosters indicating that suicide prevention training was provided to jailers in accordance with the approved operational plan.” Our law firm has found this training to be critical, as we have unfortunately litigated a number of jail suicide cases in Texas. Jails must train jailers how to look for signs of self-harm tendencies to avoid suicides. The 14^th Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right of pre-trial detainees in Texas to receive reasonable medical care and reasonable mental health care, as well as to be protected from their own suicidal tendencies.

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.