Shelby County Jail is in Center, Texas 75935 at 100 Hurst Street. The inmate capacity is 66, and the jail’s contact phone number is (936) 598-5601. The duties of the Shelby County Sheriff include operating Shelby County Jail according to minimum jail standards set out by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS). Each year, Shelby County Jail and all county jails in Texas are inspected by TCJS. If items of non-compliance are discovered, a jail is subjected to heightened scrutiny until it is up to code.

Restraint Chairs

Among the jail standards in Texas is the option for jails to use TCJS-approved restraint devices when needed on inmates exhibiting behavior that could be injurious to themselves or others. Restraint chairs are included among approved restraint devices, though reports of inmate deaths and abuse in restraint chairs have led some jurisdictions to outlaw their use.

TCJS not only approves restraint chairs but also provides strict guidelines for using them in a manner that will not cause harm. They must be used according to the manufacturers’ directions, for example, and the following are a few examples of those instructions:

1. Manufacturers’ instructions must be read and understood by any person who places an inmate in a restraint chair. A lack of understanding could result in serious injury or death.
2. In order to prevent an inmate from suffering an injury in a restraint chair, there should be no delays in removing leg irons and handcuffs.
3. It is not recommended for a person to be left in a restraint chair for more than 10 hours total.

Posts on this website are meant to help prisoners who believe their civil rights were denied during detention in a city or county Texas jail. It is not intended to indicate that a person or institution has been involved in misdeeds of any kind.

–Guest Contributor