Standards of Procedure for the Use of Restraint Chairs Continued

Placement of Restraint Chairs Continued

• Inmates shall be fully clothed whenever possible when placed into a restraint chair.
• Inmates who have been strapped into a mobile restraint chair will be housed in a single occupancy cell. Alternate locations must be approved by the ranking supervisor, and they should be used only in urgent circumstances.
• All hard restraints and restraint belts on a restraint chair must be checked by medical staff to ensure that the inmate’s blood circulation has not been cut off.

Observation of Inmates in Restraint Chairs

• In the Special Housing Observation log book, a Special Housing Observation Log shall be posted for an inmate in a restraint chair. The jailer completing the observation log shall write “Restraint Chair” on the form to signify its use.
• For inmates placed in a restraint chair, a restraint chair/fluid assessment log shall be filled out and placed on the cell door. Each evaluation by medical staff and supervisors will be documented on the form with the following guidelines:
• There shall be legible documentation of EIN/TIME.
• Each time an inmate is assessed by a medical staff member or a supervisor, comments shall be written.
• Inmates in restraint chairs must be monitored by staff members for signs of distress and for the documentation of the consumption or refusal of fluids.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, and Part 7.

This website is meant as a resource to benefit prisoners detained in Texas city and county jails. Making accusations against persons or entities is never intended.

–Guest Contributor