At 9:07 PM, Thomas Ervin Gregory was moved to a detox cell in Taylor County Jail. At 10:00 PM he was found unresponsive, and lifesaving techniques included an automated external defibrillator (AED) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). At 10:38 PM, it was determined that nothing else could be done. Mr. Gregory was declared deceased in the county jail in Abilene, Texas, on February 22, 2023.

County Jails in Texas Fail to Provide Supervision as Required for Inmates in Restraint Chairs

One of the most important requirements connected to the use of restraint chairs is frequent observations. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) makes this a requirement of all jails in local jurisdictions in Texas, as follows.

• The inmate must be observed in increments not to exceed every 15 minutes, and the observation should be documented. The documentation of the use of restraints shall include but not be limited to the following: the events leading up to the need for restraints, the time the restraints were applied, justification for their use, observations of the inmate’s behavior and condition, the 15-minute checks, and the time when the restraints were removed.

Every year, many county jails in Texas fail to keep this requirement. The following is one of the jails that was recently cited for failing to observe the inmates every 15 minutes.

Childress County Jail was cited for failure to observe inmates in the required 15-minute time frame:

• Restraint chair log shows that the jail staff exceeded the 15-minute observation checks by 1 to 15 minutes on multiple occasions.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of this series.

This post is among the resources on this site intended as a potential benefit to inmates in Texas county and city jails. Making inferences that organizations or individuals have been involved in wrongdoing is never intended.

–Guest Contributor