Category: City Jails|County Jails|Restraints|Texas Commission on Jail Standards

Lampasas County Jail is in Lampasas, Texas 76550 at 410 E Fourth Street. The jail can be contacted at the phone number (512) 556-8255. The bed capacity at Lampasas County Jail is 37. Jail operations are among the duties of the Lampasas County Sheriff. Each year, Lampasas County Jail is inspected to determine whether minimum jail standards are met, as required. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) establishes and enforces the standards.

Restraints

Various types of restraint devices can be used by jail staff at Texas jails, including at Lampasas County Jail. Specific guidelines are provided within the minimum jail standards to ensure that each type of restraint device is used in no other manner than what is set out by TCJS. The following are among the guidelines for use of restraint devices:

• The type of restraint device used must be one that restricts an inmate’s movements only to the degree necessary to protect the detainee from self-harm and to protect others from being injured. When feasible, restraints used should be padded or soft.
• Care must be taken to ensure that an inmate is not restrained in a way or in a position that would worsen any existing physical maladies.

The posts on this website are solely intended as informational resources. There is not intent on this site to suggest in any manner that impropriety has occurred on the part of an institution or person.

–Guest Contributor

Kleberg County Jail is in Kingsville, Texas 78363 at 1500 E. King Ave. The jail can be reached at the phone number (361) 595-8500 x1251. The inmate capacity at Kleberg County Jail is 160. The Kleberg County Sheriff has the responsibility of handling jail operations, and duties include adhering to minimum jail standards established by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS).

Restraints

City and county detainment facilities in Texas such as Kleberg County Jail are permitted to use a range of restraint methods to control the actions of inmates. Specific guidelines dictate the occasions in which restraints can be used, and no restraints are approved for disciplinary or punishment purposes. Below are examples of the restraint devices and methods used by jailers in Texas.

Mechanical restraint devices are professionally manufactured and designed to help restrict an individual’s bodily movements. In order to use a mechanical restraint device, it must be approved by the state. Approved methods include ankle cuffs, handcuffs, plastic cuffs, waistbelt, and wristlets.

Approved personal restraint techniques use a person’s physical exertion to totally or partly constrain the body movements of another person. To use this restraint technique, a person must be professionally trained in a competency-based and curriculum-based program.

This website’s posts are provided as informational resources. At no time is there an intent on this site to make a suggestion of any kind that a person or institution has been engaged in impropriety.

–Guest Contributor

Police departments throughout the US have adopted the use of the WRAP restraint device. A police chief in Texas has been quoted as saying that the tragic death of George Floyd may have been avoided using the WRAP restraint system.

Purpose and Use of the WRAP Restraint System

According to information available on the manufacturer’s website, the WRAP restraint device provides law enforcement officers with a quick, safe way to immobilize and control a subject. The following are examples of situations in which the WRAP restraint device might be considered appropriate for use in a jail setting:

• To immobilize an inmate who has become combative and/or violent.
• To prevent a violent or combative person from injuring themselves or others.

Inmate Restraint

The following is more information related to restraints from the Criminal Code of Procedure in Texas with regard to inmates:

Applying restraints to an inmate is a decision that must be made by medical or supervisory personnel.

Every two hours, an inmate in a restraint device must receive medical care, the results of which must be documented. The required medical attention must include the following:

• Offering liquids and nourishment,
• Exercising arms and legs,
• Checking for potential medication needs,
• Offering toilet facilities,
• Changing position, and
• Taking vital signs.

Anytime a determination has been made to utilize restraints in accordance with the CCP, jailers must use the restraint device that is the least restrictive in order to ensure safety and health or to prevent escape.

See Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and continuing installments about Texas jails in non-compliance of jail standards set out by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS). Learn more about restraints used on inmates in the next installment of this series.

This post is meant as a source of information. There is not an intention in this or other blog posts on this website to suggest that misconduct of any kind has occurred on the part of any institution, organization, or individual.

–Guest Contributor

The use of restraints is sometimes deemed necessary in Texas jails when inmates exhibit behavior that poses a threat to themselves or others. A number of jail standards are associated with the use of restraints. For example, inmates must not be kept in restraints in a manner or position that would worsen any physical infirmities they may have. During 2020 jail inspections, at least two jails were cited for non-compliance of a jail standard under “§273.6. Restraints” requiring observation of restrained inmates every 15 minutes. The face-to-face observations include assessment of circulation to the inmate’s extremities and the security of the restraints.

The following are summaries of the comments made by jail inspectors with regard to non-compliance of this jail standard at two different Texas jails:

1. At the time when a certain inmate was found unresponsive in a WRAP restraint system, records reflect that face-to-face observations had not been conducted within the required 15-minute time frame.
2. An area of technical assistance provided in the 2019 annual inspection was in regard to restraint observations. Yet, during the 2020 jail inspection in which video evidence of inmate observations was reviewed, it was discovered that the 15-minute maximum amount of time between observations was exceeded by various amounts of time, from 1 minute up to 10 minutes.

See Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and continuing installments about Texas jails in non-compliance of jail standards set out by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS). In the next installment, learn more about the WRAP restraint system as well as other minimum jail standards with regard to the use of restraints.

This post is meant as a source of information. There is not an intention in this or other blog posts on this website to suggest that misconduct of any kind has occurred on the part of any institution, organization, or individual.

–Guest Contributor