San Patricio County Jail is in Sinton, Texas 78387 at 300 N Rachal Ave. It has an inmate capacity of 236, and the jail’s contact phone number is (361) 364-9630. The San Patricio County Sheriff handles the operations of the San Patricio County Jail. Jail operation rules and requisites are determined and enforced by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS). Annual jail inspections and increased oversight of non-compliant jails are the primary avenues of enforcement.

Restraint Chairs

Texas minimum jail standards are largely about safety. TCJS allows jailers to use restraint devices when inmates are exhibiting behavior that poses potential harm to themselves or others. Restraint chairs are among the approved mechanical restraint devices, in spite of many controversies surrounding them.

An inmate placed in a restraint chair is typically strapped in at the ankles and wrists. In such a vulnerable situation, the fear that abuse might occur has been realized on too many occasions, according to records in jails across the nation.

Evidence of inhumane treatment and custodial deaths that have occurred in restraint chairs have prompted multiple U.S. jurisdictions to ban their use, though none are in Texas.

TCJS minimum jail standards specify that restraint chairs must be used strictly according to guidelines. They are not to be used in any inhumane way or as a form of punishment.

This site’s posts seek to help inmates whose civil rights might have been violated while confined in a Texas city or county jail. There is never an intention to infer that misdeeds have occurred on the part of a person or institution.

–Guest Contributor