Swisher County, Texas Jail Fails State Inspection

The Swisher County Jail, in Tulia, Texas, recently failed an inspection by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS). The TCJS inspected the Swisher County, Texas Jail on December 17, 2021. Hopefully, the Swisher County Jail will bring itself up to compliance with TCJS minimum standards.

The TCJS inspector found that the last fire marshal inspection was conducted on December 2, 2020, that placed the inspection 15 days overdue. This is particularly troubling, because the inspector had listed that issue as a deficiency during the 2020 annual inspection.

The TCJS inspector also determined that alert signals at the jailer station were activating, but that no two-way communications could be established on either side from a jail cell. TCJS standards require that there be a two-way voice communication option between Texas County Jail inmates and jailers at all times.

Finally, and very troubling, the TCJS inspector found that Swisher County, Texas jail staff had not been trained on life safety equipment during either the first quarter, second quarter, or third quarter of 2021. Jailers cannot be expected to properly use lifesaving equipment if an inmate has a life saving issue, if they are not trained to do so.

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.