Texas Jails Placing Pregnant Inmates in Restraints

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) recently had to remind all sheriffs and jail administrators in Texas of the apparent continued, inhumane problem of restraining pregnant inmates. It is important to remember that the vast majority of people in Texas county jails have not yet been convicted of anything. Therefore, they certainly cannot be punished, much less restrained improperly if they are pregnant.

The TCJS issued a technical assistance memorandum on December 15, 2021 entitled, “Reminder: Report on Restraint of Pregnant Inmates.” The TCJS had to remind all jails in Texas of the requirement to document and report use of restraints on pregnant inmates. A Texas law requires the TCJS to adopt minimum jail standards regarding use of restraints on pregnant inmates. Information about standards adopted by the TCJS was distributed to all jails via a technical assistance memorandum on December 4, 2019, and again on December 4, 2020. The TCJS’s December 15, 2021 memorandum provided links to both previous technical assistance memorandums.

Each Texas jail is required to submit a report for the preceding year no later than February 1st of a year. A jail can begin submitting reports on January 1st of a year to Program Specialist Kaitlin Lopez Cano, and her email address is provided in the 2021 technical assistance memorandum. The report must be submitted using a Microsoft Excel file that is at the TCJS website, and for which the TCJS provided a link. If a jail submits the report in any other format, it will be returned. If a jail did not use restraints on pregnant inmates during the preceding year, the jail still has to submit a report.

It is unfortunate in a civilized society that jails use restraints on pregnant inmates. Fortunately, the Texas legislature addressed the issue. Jail administrators and sheriffs in Texas must assure that they treat all prisoners humanely, pregnant or otherwise, as such prisoners receive constitutional protections.

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.