TCJS Cites Pecos County Jail in Fort Stockton, Texas, for 5 Alleged Jail Standards Violations

Pecos County Jail in Fort Stockton, Texas, was inspected by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards earlier this year. On October 17, 2017, a Jail Inspection Report was released, and the Pecos jail was cited for five alleged violations. The primary purpose of the standards is to ensure the safety of prisoners, staff, and others who visit a jail. When a prisoner is harmed or suffers a custodial death due to a failure of staff to follow jail requirements, the county can be held responsible.

The following is information about some of the violations of jail standards that Pecos County Jail allegedly committed:

• Observation logs of prisoners in detoxification or holding cells were reviewed, and it was found that jailers consistently exceeded the maximum 30-minute face-to-face observation times by 2 to 17 minutes.
• Records indicated that jailers had not been receiving the required 3 hours of suicide prevention training every quarter.
• A prisoner was exhibiting bizarre behavior, and the magistrate was not notified, as required.
• Random samples of 60-minute observation logs of prisoners were reviewed, and it was allegedly determined that jailers consistently exceeded the 60-minute time frame by 9 to 17 minutes. The alleged failure of staff to conduct 30-minute observations occurred in areas were prisoners were known to be potentially suicidal, mentally ill, known to be violent, or who had behaved in a bizarre manner.

As with every post on this website, we are only providing information in this post and do not make any allegation or assertion that anyone acted inappropriately or engaged in misconduct.

–Guest Contributor

Written By: smchugh

smchugh