Chauncey Elmer Toombs died on April 13, 2022, one day after he was booked into the Kaufman County Jail in Kaufman, Texas. Summary notes in the custodial death report indicate that he died from suicide, though the cause of death is pending autopsy results.

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) published a recent report about non-compliance a Smith County Jail. Details follow.

Alleged Noncompliance at Smith County Jail

Preventing self-harm is one of the reasons an inmate might be placed in a restraint chair, and there have been cases in which inmates found a way to commit suicide, even with their limbs strapped down.

On a jail inspection report dated March 22 through 24, 2022, Smith County Jail is cited for failing to provide the required level of supervision to inmates strapped in a restraint chair. Face-to-face observations of inmates in restraint chairs must be conducted in intervals not to exceed every 15 minutes.

• When the restraint chair logs were reviewed, it was found that on multiple occasions jailers exceeded the 15-minute timeframe for face-to-face observations by 1 to 10 minutes.

TCJS specifies in minimum jail standards that during the observations of inmates held in a restraint system that must occur in intervals not to exceed 15 minutes, the extremities must be checked to ensure that there is no obstruction of blood flow.

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

On this website, accusing individuals or entities of committing misdeeds is never intended. This site adds posts to provide inmates in Texas county jails with helpful resources.

–Guest Contributor