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Many people said all should 6 items were desperately needed, but the medical situation is so awful that people voted for it as the #1 thing the Jail Commission needs to be doing: COMMISSION INSPECTORS NEED TO SURVEY INMATES TO SEE IF INMATES ARE RECEIVING PRESCRIBED MEDICATIONS AND MEDICAL TREATMENT THEY NEED!

People's choice for #2: Commission should provide MORE TRAINING OF GUARDS on their response to inmates with mental illness, physical illness or infections.

People's choice for #3: The Commission needs ANOTHER INSPECTOR; FOUR inspectors for 258 jails are not enough. In the 1970s, the Commission had six inspectors but they cut them back at the same time the jails have grown tremendously.

Here are the original 6 choices we presented to you: 

1. Commission should provide MORE TRAINING OF GUARDS on their response to inmates with mental illness, physical illness or infections. ck: 

2. Commission should put a HOT LINK TO THE COMPLAINTS FORM on the front page of the TCJS website (instead of sticking it out of sight, under "online forms" which is tucked away under "TCJS Resources")

3. Commission should require county lockups to IDENTIFY PREGNANT INMATES and REPORT MISCARRIAGES AND STILLBORN CHILDREN.

4. The Commission needs ANOTHER INSPECTOR; FOUR inspectors for 258 jails are not enough. In the 1970s, the Commission had six inspectors but they cut them back at the same time the jails have grown tremendously.

5. Commission inspectors should make sure inmates have ACCESS TO GRIEVANCE FORMS and investigate whether the jail makes honest attempts to respond to inmate grievances.

6. Commission inspectors need to privately survey inmates to see if INMATES ARE RECEIVING PRESCRIBED MEDICATIONS and medical treatment they need.

Our jails need a lot of improvement, but the Jail Commission has limited powers and cannot wave a magic wand. Also, some changes would cost too much to be practical. On the other hand, we think they can and should do a lot more. 

(TCJS website has more info on this Sunset Review: http://www.tcjs.state.tx.us/docs/TCJS%20Sunset%20Notice.pdf )