Victoria County, Texas Jail – TCJS Inspection

In December 2018, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards conducted an inspection of the Victoria County, Texas Jail. When doing so, the TCJS inspector included in her report descriptions of several issues with the jail.

The inspector noted that, when reviewing inmate health screening forms, she was unable to confirm that a magistrate had been notified on two files. The jail apparently scans files into the JMS system and then shreds the original documents. The inspector required the jail to, within 30 days, email the inspector a plan to ensure that all health screening documentation, including magistrate notifications, magistrate notification confirmations, and CCQ reports, are all scanned into the system before documentation is shredded. Whenever a Texas county jail inmate answers a question in the affirmative in response to certain questions, at intake, the jail is required by law to notify a magistrate of issues with the inmate. These issues can include suicidal tendencies.

The inspector also observed, while she was there, jail floor officers not properly observing inmates in cells when doing checks. She also noted that floor officers were late in conducting 30-minute face-to-face observations.

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.