Zavala County Jail in Texas Listed as Non-Compliant by State

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (“TCJS”) recently conducted an inspection of the Zavala County jail.  The Zavala County jail is located in Crystal City, Texas and operated by the Zavala County Sheriff’s Office.  The TCJS inspector found in her report that the Zavala County jail violated minimum jail standards. 

The TCJS inspector noted, after reviewing video documentation from a March 18, 2020 escape, that jail security was breached when three interior doors were left unsecured.  Moreover, both sally port gates were left unsecured.  This allowed an inmate to literally walk out of the jail.

Further, after the TCJS inspector reviewed video documentation from the March 26, 2020 escape, she noticed that four outside detail workers were left unsupervised in a vehicle.  Those detail workers were trusties, and thus inmates.  The vehicle was left running, with the keys in the ignition, allowing an inmate to simply place the vehicle in gear and drive off.  This lead to a high-speed pursuit and placed the general public in immediate danger. 

Our law firm reviews many Texas Commission on Jail Standards reports.  However, with regard to the Zavala County jail, this was a first.  It appears as if security was not only slack, but grossly inadequate.  Hopefully, the Zavala County jail has remedied these issues so that it can protect inmates and the public. 

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.