PRESS RELEASE: Open Records Request show Sheriff and state agency violated the spirit of the law

Open Records Request show Sheriff and state agency violated the spirit of the law: 

Texas Jail Project Demands Accurate Accounting of In-custody Deaths per Sandra Bland Act

Figure 1: 61 yr old Victor Runnels, who died June 25th, 2026 after being held in the Tarrant County Jail, poses with his dog Leelee. Photo provided by Victoria Rogers 

Texas Jail Project (TJP) is proud to be in solidarity with the community members and advocates rallying in Tarrant County to demand justice for their loved ones who died in Tarrant County jail custody under Sheriff Waybourn’s tenure. 

As families grieve the five lives lost in the county jail this year, four of whom died within eleven days of each other, they must also confront harmful practices that are leaving some deaths uncounted, and therefore, uninvestigated.  

“We are seeing an alarming erosion of the Sandra Bland Act, and grieving families are being left without answers or recourse for seeking justice because of meaningless technicalities. Anyone who is transferred from a jail to a hospital and does not walk out alive must be counted as an in-custody death which automatically triggers an independent investigation. When law enforcement skirts the law to not count an in-custody death, it robs families of even a chance to get answers, much less justice,” says Krish Gundu, Co-founder & Executive Director of Texas Jail Project. 

One of the people fighting for answers is Victoria Rogers, whose uncle Victor Runnels died on June 25, 2026 after being transferred to JPS Hospital from Tarrant County Jail. As records provided by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) through Open Records Request show (Figure 2), Mr. Runnels suffered a medical emergency on June 24 while incarcerated at the Tarrant County Jail. He was transported to the hospital that evening and underwent surgery. His family was not contacted until the next morning, and when they arrived, Mr. Runnels was on life support and shackled to the bed. 

Figure 2: Timeline of Events, provided on 07/14/2026 by TCJS in response to TJP’s Open Records Request

The Tarrant County Sheriff’s office released Mr. Runnels from their custody at 4:32pm after the parole department dropped the charge against him. His family reports that Mr. Runnels was taken off life support and had his shackles removed at 4:41pm. At 4:46pm, fourteen minutes after technically being released from custody, Victor Runnels was pronounced dead. 

“I cannot understand how a dismissal of charges right before being taken off life support is the sole reason my uncle’s death is not being counted as a custody death. He died in shackles, he died in custody of the state. He did not die a free man and our family needs answers,” says Victoria Rogers, niece of Victor Runnels.

Ms. Rogers describes her uncle as a loving, family-oriented man. “He meant the world to me. He loved to dance and make people laugh. He was the kind of person who would give the shirt off his back because he knew what it meant to be there for people in need. My uncle’s life mattered and his death deserves to be counted and receive an independent investigation.” 

Sheriff Waybourn and Tarrant County have a history of knowingly and willfully violating state law in custody death investigations. From October 2021 through October 2024, 26 custody deaths in Tarrant County jail were not investigated independently, as mandated by state law. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards failed to catch this violation until it was uncovered by community advocates and national media.

In response to Victor Runnels’ death, and the hundreds of other people who have died in our pretrial detention system, Texas Jail Project demands the following: 

1. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards must count Victor Runnels’ death as an in-custody death and appoint an independent law enforcement agency for investigation 
2. District Attorneys must ensure that anyone who is transferred from a jail to hospital and does not leave the hospital alive is counted as an in-custody death and receives an independent investigation
3. Sheriffs must implement an “unfit for confinement policy” to ensure that anyone brought to the jail in medical or mental health crisis is immediately sent to an ER instead of being booked into jail
4. Counties must partner with the state to stop the criminalization of people with serious mental illness and developmental disabilities 

TJP commends Commissioner Simmons who has repeatedly demanded transparency and accountability in jail deaths and Commissioner Kraus who expressed concern yesterday about the custody deaths during the Tarrant County Commissioners Court. Texas Jail Project will continue to advocate alongside families and community members to compel elected officials and state agencies to listen to their constituents and follow the spirit of the law.

Texas Jail Project monitors conditions of confinement in the 244 county jails across Texas and advocates on behalf of the more than 76,000 people held daily in these facilities, over 75 percent of whom are pretrial detainees. Our intersectional work focuses on cash bail, the criminalization of mental illness and developmental disabilities, deaths in custody, and the use of county jails for immigration enforcement. Our vision is to replace punitive systems with communities of care.