Another man is dead after being “restrained” in the Dallas county jail. While Dallas has worked hard to pass inspections by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, questions remain: is there something fundamentally wrong with the culture or the command? Are too many guards required to work overtime in a high stress environment? Whatever problems exist, Sheriff Valdez must find out and prevent further deaths. We don’t want to keep reading line’s like this one: “At issue is the question of whether restraint by the jail officers caused or contributed to the Nov. 10, 2011 death of George Barnes Koomson.”
Our sympathies to the family of George Koomson.

Texas Jail Project has been monitoring the number of complaints and calls for help from inmates inside Dallas County Jail, and the numbers are down. This week, one mother in California who was worried about her son reported that she was relieved to hear her son had received treatment for the flu that many inmates have right now. This is good news, but we still look for more improvement, since the #1 search term used most often on the Texas Jail Project website is Lew Sterritt, the name of the Dallas county jail – and that’s because a lot of people are looking for information and help in dealing with this jail.

In a September 29, 2011, story, the Brownsville Herald exposes the rampant overcrowding at the jail that has evidently gone on for many years. Then Chief Jail Administrator Mike Leinart spoke the truth, when he responded to a question about inmate population numbers.

“We haven’t been in compliance in six years,” said Leinart.

“Don’t say that out loud,” Pct. 4 Commissioner Dan Sanchez said.

Houston Sheriff Garcia and other Harris County officials showed up at the quarterly meeting of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards in early November to ask for more than 700 variance beds– beds that allow them to keep more inmates because of special needs and circumstances. Problem is, this situation has been going on for years. Tina Tran, chief of staff for Senator Rodney Ellis, read a letter from the Senator and Representative Garnet Coleman. Read that letter and another from the renowned criminal justice expert Michele Deitch explore the issue of the state granting variances to the Harris County Jail. More importantly, both letters demanded that the Jail Commission stop the practice now. But on Thursday, TCJS commissioners voted to once more grant those beds to Harris County for another 6 months. Read the letters below.

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Tom Green County Sheriff Joe Hunt and members of the county jail shared with Tom Green County commissioners Tuesday the kudos they received after passing an unannounced jail inspection last week. The inspector with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards went to the jail March 22 through March 24. Hunt said he prefers
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Some Texas jails, including in Dallas County, are still shackling pregnant inmates during labor and delivery, a violation of a state law that passed last year, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and an inmate advocacy group charged Thursday.

Days after Sheriff Gary Cutler took office last November, his chief deputy said he found the jail in a “state of squalor” so bad that inmates in one cell block had taken to wearing bandanas over their mouths to ward off an infestation of tiny flies. Vines overgrew fences and outdoor lights didn’t work. Maggots
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The Hockley County Jail did not meet state jail standards, according to an annual inspection report conducted last month.The Texas Commission on Jail Standards inspected the jail July 13 and 14 and found six areas of non-compliance.

July 22, 2010 Lubbock Online BROWNFIELD – The Terry County Jail failed to pass state standards in a recent jail inspection. According to Texas Commission on Jail Standards documents, the jail was non-compliant with multiple minimum jail standards. In an unannounced annual inspection July 15-16, the comission found deficiencies in: emergency training, inspection by a
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http://www.sacurrent.com/blog/queblog.asp?perm=70184 Greg Harman, March 1st, 2010 If you’ve got a naturally sunny disposition (despite the long shadow of those prison bars falling on your shoulders), chances are you’ve got more room to roam on the inside of Bexar County Jail these days. You may even be tempted to crack open a $3.59 can of “no
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