Waller County, Texas Jail Not Compliant with Jail Standards

The Waller County, Texas jail gained the unfortunate notoriety, worldwide, as being the location where Sandra Bland committed suicide. Ms. Bland’s suicide resulted in a change in Texas law regarding investigation of custodial deaths. However, despite such notoriety, and the fact that Ms. Bland’s death should have sent a message to Waller County, Waller County seems not to have taken appropriate remedial measures in its jail.

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards, which is the state agency charged with inspecting county jails and investigating issues related to failure to comply with minimum standards, issued an inspection report on December 19, 2018 regarding the Waller County Jail. The TCJS found the Waller County jail as not being in compliance with minimum standards.

The inspector cited the requirement that jail staff be trained for emergency situations immediately upon employment, and further no less than each calendar quarter. However, when reviewing training records, the inspector found that four Waller County jailers did not have documented proof that they received training for the third quarter of 2018.

Further, inmates who are confined in a holding cell or detoxification cell must be observed by jail personnel at intervals of no more than 30 minutes. However, amazingly, especially in light of Ms. Bland’s death, the inspector found that, when reviewing 30-minute face-to-face observation logs, staff exceeded the 30-minute rounds by up to 23 minutes in some instances. This is wholly inadequate, as a person can commit suicide in less than ten minutes.

Further, regarding inmates in general, every jail in Texas must have the appropriate number of jailers at the facility 24 hours each day, and must observe inmates who do not have special issues, face-to-face, no less than once every 60 minutes. However, when the inspector reviewed such 60-minute observations, the inspector determined that Waller County Jail staff exceeded the 60-minute rounds by as much as 153 minutes. Therefore, there was at least one time when inmates had not been observed for over three hours. It is difficult at best to determine what will wake up Waller County as to its obligations to comply with minimum jail standards.

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