Category: County Jails|Jail Inspections|Mental Health Issues|Observation Records|Suicide|Texas Commission on Jail Standards

The location of Hidalgo County Jail, known as the Hidalgo County Detention Center, is 701 El Cibolo Road in Edinburg, Texas 78541. The number to contact the jail is (956) 381-7900. Hidalgo County Jail’s inmate capacity is 1,232. The Hidalgo County Sheriff is in charge of jail operations, and Texas minimum jail standards are determined by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS). As part of enforcement, the Hidalgo County Jail is inspected annually, the same as all Texas jail facilities. Anytime a jail fails to meet required standards, they are placed under increased scrutiny.

High-Risk Inmate Supervision

The number one responsibility of jails in Texas is to ensure inmate safety. At Hidalgo County Detention Center and in virtually every jail across the US these days, addressing challenges of incarcerated individuals with mental challenges is unavoidable. TCJS has explored the best solutions and has determined that diligence with regard to inmate supervision helps to prevent custodial deaths, including suicide prevention.

Jailers are required to provide face-to-face observation of high-risk inmates every 30 minutes. These personal checks of prisoners are monitored with the required equipment that was due to be installed by August 31, 2020. These cameras or electronic sensors maintain records of personal observations in areas where high-risk individuals are placed. During jail inspections, the electronic records are compared to written documentation of observations. If a jail is non-compliant in this area or in regard to any minimum jail standard, the jail is given additional oversight.

This and every post on this website is meant to provide information. There is never an intention to make any type of inference that an institution, person, or organization has been engaged in any kind of misconduct.

–Guest Contributor

The location of Henderson County Jail is 206-A North in Athens, Texas 75751. The number to contact the jail is (903) 675-5128. Henderson County Jail’s bed capacity is 509. The Henderson County Sheriff has the duty of handling jail operations per established Texas minimum jail standards. The standards are determined by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS). The Henderson County Jail is inspected annually. As part of the enforcement used by TCJS, jails that fail to meet minimum standards are subjected to heightened scrutiny via additional jail inspections.

High-Risk Inmate Supervision

A modern-day challenge that all jails face, including Henderson County Jail, is the high number of mentally disabled individuals who are incarcerated. It is important to the safety of high-risk inmates that the jail staff adheres to minimum jail standards for inmate supervision.

Although the general population of prisoners in Texas county jails is personally observed by jailers every 60 minutes, high-risk inmates are observed face-to-face every half hour.

This entire system of helping to ensure the safety of inmates is largely dependent on the intake process when an inmate is being booked in jail. Each county jail has a duty to provide appropriate training to all jail staff so that the needs of high-risk inmates can be attended to. Staff members assigned to intake of prisoners are to receive additional training for the purpose of understanding procedures for recognizing, handling, supervising, and documenting mentally disabled and/or potentially suicidal inmates.

This website’s posts are intended to provide information. There is never an intent to make any type of suggestion that a person, institution, or organization has been involved in wrongdoing of any kind.

–Guest Contributor

The location of Hays County Jail is 1307 Uhland Road in San Marcos, Texas 78666. The number to contact the jail is (512) 393-7800. Hays County Jail’s bed capacity is 362. Operations at the jail are among the responsibilities of the Hays County Sheriff. Guidelines for jails in Texas are established by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS). Routine jail inspections and follow-ups on non-compliant jails are the primary means by which TCJS handles enforcement of minimum standards.

Inmate Supervision

To keep inmates safe during incarceration, Hays County Jail is required to provide supervision according to minimum jail standards. For the general population, face-to-face observations must be conducted every 60 minutes. A jail may have closed-circuit cameras to observe inmates, but the devices cannot replace personal observations.

Mentally Disabled and Potentially Suicidal Inmates

The jail staff must have the training to recognize when detainees are mentally disabled or might be potentially suicidal. The jail staff members that handle intake at the jail, in particular, need extra training so that inmates can be given heightened supervision when needed.

The inmates that are considered to be high-risk individuals include the following:

• Mentally ill,
• Potentially suicidal,
• Assaultive, and
• Exhibiting bizarre behavior.

These high-risk individuals must have a personal observation by a jailer every 30 minutes.

This website’s posts are intended to provide potentially helpful information. There is never an intention to suggest in any way that an institution or person may have been involved in misconduct.

–Guest Contributor