Texas Attorney – The Latest Jail Inspection Report by Texas Commission on Jail Standards on Bosque County Jail Reflects Alleged Violations that Endanger Prisoners
Minimum jail standards in Texas are designed to ensure, among other things, that prisoners are safe while incarcerated. At Bosque County Jail in Meridian, Texas, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards conducted an annual inspection and found that the jail allegedly violated 11 standards, per a February 14, 2018, Jail Inspection Report. Among them are alleged violations involving procedures that help to ensure the safety of prisoners.
Jailers are required to make custody assessments before making housing assignments when new prisoners are admitted. The purpose is to place prisoners with others in the same custody level and also to place prisoners in the least restrictive housing available. Risk factors are assessed, when classifying prisoners. Factors considered during prisoner classification include:
- Offense history
- Prior convictions
- Current conviction or offense
- History of escape
- Abuse of drugs and/or alcohol
- History of institutional discipline
When inspectors reviewed a random selection of four files at Bosque County Jail, they determined that not all of the prisoners are being classified before being placed in housing. This means prisoners who belong in minimum security could be placed with those who are correctly housed in maximum-level security. Jail standards dictate that when prisoners in different custody levels are involved in the same activity or are in the same area, there must be constant supervision by jail staff. In general housing, there are only face-to-face observation checks every hour.
Another alleged violation of minimum jail standards is that jailers at Bosque County Jail did not conduct the required custody reassessment/review after 30 to 90 days of the initial Custody Assessment or the required reassessment immediately upon any disciplinary action and/or change in legal status that would affect classification.
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
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