Val Verde County Jail Fails State Inspection

Val Verde County Jail Found Out of Compliance in State Inspection — Life-Safety and Disciplinary Violations

A recent Notice of Non-Compliance issued by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) on February 3, 2026 reveals that the Val Verde (P) County Jail failed to meet multiple state minimum standards intended to protect people in custody.

Inspection Findings: What the Report Says

The special TCJS inspection — based on a prior November 18, 2025 review — documented two serious areas of non-compliance:

Life-Safety Deficiencies

• Under Standard 263.55, all life safety equipment must be routinely inspected, maintained, and tested by qualified personnel.

• Photographs submitted to the commission showed the facility’s fire alarm panel in “trouble mode” and red-tagged — indicating it had been out of service since February 18, 2025.

This kind of failure jeopardizes basic protections like early warning for smoke and fire — hazards that can quickly turn deadly in a locked facility.

Disciplinary Hearing Violations

• The inspection also found problems under Standard 283.1(3)(D) relating to disciplinary procedures.

• In 5 of 20 disciplinary cases reviewed, inmates were not provided the required 24-hour advance notice before signing waivers or attending hearings.

Proper disciplinary hearings — including timely notice — are essential procedural safeguards for people in custody. When those rights are ignored, it can lead to unjust punishments or confusion about sanctions.

Broader Oversight Context

Val Verde isn’t the only Texas county facing compliance issues: the Texas Commission on Jail Standards currently lists Val Verde County as non-compliant alongside other counties that have received recent notices.  And across Texas, repeated inspections and reports continue to highlight systemic problems — from fire safety to medical care — that contribute to unsafe conditions behind bars.

To understand how oversight issues relate to actual harms and failures in Texas jails, read more on our site about past inspections, including:

🔗 Willacy County, Texas Jail Fails State Inspection (2026) — A life-safety violation around fire detection systems
👉 https://deanmalonelawfirm.com/jail-neglect/willacy-county-texas-jail-fails-state-inspection-2/

🔗 Willacy County Jail — Historical Oversight Problems — How prior inspections have identified staffing and safety issues over time
👉 https://deanmalonelawfirm.com/jail-neglect/willacy-county-texas-jail-fails-state-inspection/

🔗 Non-Compliant Jails: What It Means for Families — An explainer on how TCJS violations can precede serious injuries and deaths in custody
👉 https://deanmalonelawfirm.com/jail-neglect/non-compliant-jails/

Contact our Texas law firm, 24/7, if you had a family member die in a Texas county jail.

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.