Terry County Jail in Brownfield, Texas is Non-Compliant

The Terry County, Texas jail, in Brownfield, Texas, is now listed by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (“TCJS”) as being a non-compliant jail. This occurred as a result of an inspection on or about March 18, 2019.

The Terry County jail has an issue that seems to be at epidemic proportions in Texas county jails. TCJS standards require that inmates confined in a holding cell or detoxification cell shall be observed by facility personnel at intervals of not less than 30 minutes. However, during TCJS review of face-to-face observations of inmates in the Terry County jail holding cell, TCJS determined that Terry County jail staff exceeded that 30-minute interval by up to 29 minutes.

It is vital that Texas county jailers properly observe prisoners. Prisoners in county jails are a high risk of suicide, and many such prisoners also have significant medical issues. If they are not properly observed, particularly if they are intoxicated, the failure to make such observations can result in death or serious injury.

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.