Category: City Jails|County Jails|Jail Inspections|Non-Compliant Jails|Restraints|Texas Commission on Jail Standards

Mason County Jail is in Mason, Texas  76856 at 122 Westmoreland St. The jail can be contacted at the phone number (325) 347-5556. The inmate capacity at Mason County Jail is 5. Among the responsibilities and functions of the Mason County Sheriff are jail operations. Texas minimum jail standards must be upheld in all Texas jails. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) determines what those standards are and conducts annual inspections to ensure compliance. If a jail is found to be non-compliant, it is subjected to heightened scrutiny.

Inmate Restraints

In Texas jails, jailers are permitted to use approved restraint methods to control the movements of inmates in certain circumstances. If, for instance, it appears that an inmate’s behavior poses a risk of harm to himself or others, an authorized person can approve the use of restraints. Only medical personnel and supervisory personnel can make that decision. The following are among the rules that guide the use of restraints:

• The individual’s medical condition must be assessed by a qualified member of the staff before placing an inmate in restraints.
• It is only to the degree that is necessary to avoid injury to an inmate or others that the inmate can be placed in restraints.
• Whenever it is feasible, padded, or soft restraints should be used.
• If an inmate has any type of physical infirmity, they should not be restrained in a way or in a position that worsens their condition.
• Every 15 minutes, the inmate in restraints must be observed in a face-to-face check by a jailer. Part of the observation is to ensure that the inmate has circulation to the extremities.

This website’s posts are provided as resources, and they are never intended to suggest that an individual or institution has engaged in misdeeds of any kind.

–Guest Contributor

Review of the Use of Restraints on Pregnant Inmates

Every year, The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (the Commission) collects reports on the use of restraints on pregnant detainees, as required by government code. Each facility under the purview of the Commission will submit a report on the use of any type of control or restraint to restrict an inmate known to be pregnant or who gave birth within the last three months. This includes restricting the movement of a limb or another part of the inmate.

With regard to pregnant inmates, the circumstances surrounding the use of restraints must be included in the report with the following information:

• Immediately before being restrained, what activity was the inmate engaged in?
• What type of restraint was used?
• Was the inmate restrained during or after delivery?
• Was the inmate restrained while being transported to a local hospital?
• What are the reasons the decision was made to use the restraints? Describe the process by which this decision was made as well as the name and title of the individual or individuals making the decision.

See Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and ongoing posts about results of jail inspection reports reflecting instances of non-compliance. In the next installment of this series, learn about more of the issues of non-compliance that Texas jails have been cited for in 2020.

This post is provided as an informational resource. There is not an intention in this or other blog posts on this site to infer that any institution, organization, or individual has engaged in misconduct of any kind.

–Guest Contributor