Texas Jail Project is concerned, as are many people, about a person with mental disorders being shot to death during transport to a state hospital. Our deepest sympathies to his mother and the rest of the family. We are shocked to hear from them that there were no charges and no further investigation of this death and that the family has been left high and dry. . . what kind of county treats the loved ones of its citizens like this? Texas Jail Project supports efforts to find out more about how this officer came to shoot an unarmed person on the way to ta hospital. There is a link to a newstory about the shooting of Nathan Pierce by a Grayson County deputy on the next page, along with an obituary we obtained online.

A jailer wrote to us, telling us of positive changes at the jail we were all concerned about.  This account has to be anonymous to respect the privacy and protect the job of this correctional officer. We hope to hear from more jailers. “There have been so many good changes since you and the chaplains and the

When Sheriff Garcia stated that more work has to be done to address jailing of the mentally ill, he said a mouthful. But that statement is little consolation to those whose family member dies in that jail.

      Recently the Texas Jail Project was  contacted by Ronda Hampton, a practicing  psychologist and family friend of a young  woman, Mitrice Richardson, who died  after being released from a county jail at night in  California. Her body was not found for nearly  a year. Hampton has joined others in  protests to the LA

A severely schizophrenic man held in the Dallas County Jail for nearly a year was released Tuesday to a mental institution.
Nicholas Sauve was arrested for shoving his mother last June. He was sentenced in September to 45 days in jail for a mental evaluation and five years of probation. Time and again, he was slated for release, but he never got beyond his cell in the jail’s north tower.

Four out of ten inmates in the El Paso County jails have some sort of a mental health issue, according to the county. Jesus Guiroga handles all of the intake and crisis services at El Paso Mental Health And Mental Retardation. He’s seen the mental health problem in the jails on a daily basis, but he said much of it can be prevented.

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

Houston Chronicle Staff, Houston Chronicle For more than two years, news stories by Chronicle reporters have raised troubling questions concerning the mortality rate among prisoners held at the Harris County Jail. At least 138 deaths occurred between 2001 and the end of 2007. In January, three more county jail inmates died. Now that the Department

I have been a chaplain at the Cameron County Women’s Jail for nearly seven years. All that really means is that once a week I go for an hour to pray for anyone who wants prayer. Sometimes I meet with women privately for counseling and monthly I bring some of my students from Valley Christian