The location of Harris County Jail is 1200 Baker Street in Houston, Texas 77002. The number to contact the jail is (713) 755-5000. Harris County Jail’s inmate capacity is 10,566. Jail operations are handled by the Harris County Sheriff. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) provides the guidelines for Texas county jails. Ensuring that jails are in compliance with minimum jail standards involves routine jail inspections and enhanced oversight for facilities discovered to be in non-compliance.

Suicide Prevention and Mental Illness            

Like all county jails in Texas, Harris County Jail is required to establish a procedure for the prevention of suicide and identifying, handling, supervising, and documenting mentally ill inmates. TCJS has recently conducted research revealing that a proven strategy for reducing the number of custodial suicides is for jailers to keep in mind that suicide can occur at any time with no warning.

Supervision of Inmates

The routine supervision of inmates also helps to keep them safe. In the general population, face-to-face observation of the inmates must be made every hour and no longer. For those who are at risk, face-to-face observations are required every 30 minutes.

During jail inspections, documentation is reviewed and compared to video records of inmate supervision. If it is discovered that actual inmate checks do not match what is reflected in written documents, a jail is cited for non-compliance with a minimum jail standard designed to ensure the safety of inmates and prevent jail suicide.

This and every post on this website seeks to provide information that could be helpful. There is never an intent to make an inference that a person, institution, or organization has engaged in any kind of wrongdoing.

–Guest Contributor