Jail Information and Advocacy Organizations
INFORMATION ABOUT COUNTY JAILS & INMATES (updated by volunteer Kayla Bennett)
- Texas Commission on Jail Standards (info on meetings, standards, local jails)
- VINELink (vinelink.com): the online version of VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday). You can obtain timely and reliable information about criminal cases and the custody status of offenders 24 hours a day. Includes a comprehensive list of internet links and toll-free numbers for victim services and resources in all 50 states.
- Google the name of the county jail you are interested in. For example, google Denton County Jail to find a link to information on inmates, visitation and more at that jail. Some jails list a lot of information and others very little.
COUNTY JAIL GRIEVANCES AND INMATE RIGHTS
- Texas Commission on Jail Standards – You can send your complaint by emailing, writing a letter, or faxing a short description. They prefer something in writing, not a call. The fastest way is to fill out their online complaint form. Click here> Online Complaints. If you don’t get a response or it’s a serious emergency, then call: 512 463-5505 and ask for assistance. It is better to write first. They have a small staff and the entire state to deal with but they work as fast as possible, checking with the jail and then reporting back to you.
Att: Director Brandon Wood
P.O. Box 12985
Austin, TX 78711-2985
FAX: 512-463-3185
- ACLU of Texas – They used to have a Prison and Jail Accountability Project and formerly were more intersted in monitoring prisons and jails, but they no longer list that as an area of interest and their small staff doesn’t have much time to dedicate to prisons and jails. Luckily, Matt Simpson, ACLU policy strategist, is still doing valuable work analyzing TDCJ, standards for county jails and the work at the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.
- Disability Rights Texas – works to protect and advance the civil rights of people with disabilities–a caegory that includes people with mental disorders as well as physical problems and disabilities. They help when rights have been violated and they seek to ensure that people with disabilities have access to information about their rights. Every individual is guaranteed certain rights under the United States Constitution, the Texas Constitution and other laws. Some of these rights include:
- The right to reasonably safe conditions of confinement, including access to adequate medical care and rehabilitation services
- The right to refuse medication and unwanted medical treatment
Read their contact page to find out numbers and times to call them.
- Texas Civil Rights Project: Self-Help Resources -The Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP) promotes racial, social, and economic justice, and their Prisoners’ Rights Program works to improve conditions in Texas prisons and jails through litigation and advocacy. They take on very few cases in terms of lawsuits, but it’s worth trying. Go to the website to find when and who to call in your region.
- Texas Appleseed – Texas Appleseed’s mission is to promote social and economic justice for all Texans by leveraging the skills and resources of volunteer lawyers and other professionals to identify practical solutions to difficult systemic problems. While it focuses on many worthwhile reforms, Texas Appleseed intersects with needs of jail inmates by providing for high quality legal representation of persons with mental illness or mental retardation — providing resources for judges and attorneys, handbooks for these defendants and their families, and support for communities to create mental health public defender offices.
IF YOUR INMATE’S COURT-APPOINTED LAWYER WILL NOT TALK TO YOU
The State Bar’s Client/Attorney Assistance Program may be able to help; their mission is to help mediate disputes between attorneys and clients. Click here.
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ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS FOR PRISONERS IN STATE PRISONS AND STATE JAILS
Texas Inmate Families Association
P.O. Box 300220 Austin, TX 78703-0004
Phone: (512) 371-0900
Email: tifa@tifa.org
10124 Champa Dr. Dallas, Texas 75218
Phone: (214) 348-0293 (Joan or Michael) or (214) 893-0784 (ask for Joan)
(214) 460-5713 (ask for Michael)
Email: Jccovici@earthlink.net
Scott Medlock, Prisoners’ Rights Attorney
1405 Montopolis Drive
Austin, TX 78741
OFFICE: 512-474-5073 ext. 105
(To see if they can help you with a case, you have to call on a Thursday, 2 to 4 p.m., for initial conversation and screening; they have limited staff.)
Texas Criminal Justice Coalition
P.O. Box 301587
Austin, TX 78708-0027
OFFICE: 512-441-8123
This group works on several different areas from the Juvenile Justice Initiative to the Fair Defense Project
and three more, so please check out their website for more info.
PO Box 372, Burleson, TX 76097
Texas CURE started and runs the fan project providing fans to indigent inmates.
GROUPS HELPING INMATES THROUGH BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS
- Inside Books Project – Creative grassroots group in Austin that has been “Sending Free Books to Texas Prisoners since 1998!” They do it all with volunteers and donated books and donated bucks for mailing costs—and there’s a personalnote with each book! Give Inside Books a few bucks when you can.
- Prison Legal News – Prison Legal News is an independent 56-page monthly magazine that provides a cutting edge review and analysis of prisoner rights, court rulings and news about prison issues. PLN has a national (U.S.) focus on both state and federal prison issues, with international coverage as well. PLN provides information that enables prisoners and other concerned individuals and organizations to seek the protection and enforcement of prisoner’s rights at the grass roots level. Started by a former inmate, PLN regularly challenges and sues the Texas jails that try to block inmates from receiving information or publications!
SUMMER CAMPS FOR CHILDREN OF THE INCARCERATED
- Camp Allen – Camp Good News, Navasota Texas, 936-825-7175
The camp is set in the Piney Woods of east Texas and is open to children between the ages of 10 and 15. Check with Camp Good News for dates in the coming year. There is no cost to the parent or caregiver, however, participation is limited to 60 children who are accepted on a first come, first served basis. Camp Good News is held at beautiful Camp Allen (near Navasota) which is owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.
For more information write or call:
Ed Davis, Coordinator
Box 388
Huntsville, TX 77342
edsalpc@yahoo.com
or contact Restorative Justice Ministries at 936-291-3153
Visit www.campallen.org for more information on the camp
- Promise Camp, Amarillo Texas
Promise Camp is located on the Bishop Quarterman Ranch and is open to children entering 4th, 5th, and 6th grades.
Promise Camp is tuition free to all campers. Transportation to and from camp is provided to children living in and around
the cities of Amarillo, Lubbock, Abilene, Midland-Odessa, and San Angelo.
For more information chec out: Promises for Families
Email or call: Katy Hoskins, Katy@promisecamp.org or 325-235-715
FAITH BASED PROJECTS HELPING INMATES
- Angela House in Houston - Angela House is a residential facility for women exiting the criminal justice system that was established in July 2001. A maximum of sixteen women, without regard to race or religion, reside at Angela House where their basic needs are met. The women also participate in a program structured to assist them in selecting viable options that will help them to lead productive and meaningful lives in the future. As women enter Angela House, they are asked to make a minimum four (4) month committment to the program. It is run by the remarkable Sister Maureen O’Connell.
- Restorative Justice Network – A network of individuals and organizations that collaborate in creating and implementing Biblical solutions to the problems and challenges of those working with inmates and the criminal justice system.
- Truth Be Told – A non-profit service organization providing transformational tools for women behind and beyond bars. Programs provide respectful listening and creative tools for personal and spiritual growth for incarcerated women. These folks know what they are doing; volunteers needed from the Gatesville area.
- Bridge to Life – A faith-based nonprofit corporation founded in 1998, with a primary mission to reduce crime by reducing the recidivism rate of released inmates. By participating in face-to-face sessions inside the prison, both victims and offenders participate in a restorative justice process.
STATE GOVERNMENT
Contact the STATE REPRESENTATIVE and/or SENATOR for your district and tell them about problems and situations with your jail or the jail administration.
To find out who represents your area, go to this website: Who Represents Me? All you have to do is type in your address and zip code to find out who your elected representative is and how to contact them:
Two state agencies with oversight over the jails:
Texas Commission on Jail Standards
Mr. Brandon Wood, Executive Director
P.O. Box 12985
Austin, TX 78711-2985
OFFICE: 512-463-5505
FAX: 512-463-3185
E-MAIL: brandon.wood@tcjs.state.tx.us
Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments (TCOOMMI) A special state agency that studies the treatment or lack of treatment of county jail inmates and that oversees continuity of care. They are especially helpful when an inmate is not receiving care for mental illness. Email: tcoommi@tdcj.state.tx.us
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
- New Department: National Resource Center on Justice Involved Women
- U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
Wan J. Kim, Asst. Attorney General
950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20530
OFFICE: 202-514-2151
FAX: 202-514-0293 - U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
David Deutsch, Esq.
950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Office of the Asst. Attorney General, Main
Washington, DC 20530
OFFICE: 202-514-6270
E-MAIL: David.Deutsch@usdoj.gov
(Mr. Deutsch said he is the Sr. Trial Atty. responsible for the DOJ investigation of the DCJ.) - United States Attorney, Northern District of Texas
The Honorable Richard B. Roper
Earle Cabell Federal Bldg.
1100 Commerce St., Ste. 300
Dallas, TX 75242-1699
Other Advocacy Groups Working to Improve Conditions and Communication
- Disability Rights –Advocates for, protects and advances the legal, human and service rights of people with disabilities. They will intervene on behalf of prisoners.
- Grassroots Leadership –Trains and support sactivists, organizations, and communities, especially in terms of fighting privitization of prisons and jails.
Read these blogs
- Grits for Breakfast – A must read! Looks at the Texas Criminal Justice System, summarizes and discusses news articles from around the state relating to criminal justice issues
- Stir Crazy in Texas – Focused on mental illness and the Texas criminal justice system.
- Liberty and Justice For Y’all – This blog is a resource on current issues involving criminal law and procedure in Texas.
- Texas Prison Bidness – Posts information about the growing prison-for-profit industry in Texas and shares information about the true costs of private prisons to individuals, families and communities in Texas and across the country.
- Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice (inmate search, jail info)
