TX county jails seek to avoid, fail to cooperate with investigations into medical deaths, says Jail Standards Commission's Sunset 'self evaluation'

Grits took time this morning to read through the Texas Commission on Jail Standards' self evaluation created as part of the "Sunset" process, through which the Texas Legislature evaluates agencies' functions every few years. For my own purposes, I took a few notes. Here are the highlights:

For starters, jail capacity in Texas has increased more than five-fold over the last 36 years, during which time the state's population didn't quite double: "From 1983 to date, the number of county jail beds has increased from 19,000 to 96,578." About 2/3 of those beds are full at any point in time.

Evading death investigations through creative, post-hoc dismissals
TCJS identified a recurring pattern where some counties claim someone who died in their custody had been released in order to avoid an outside investigation. The problem arises when:

the county claims they have released from custody because a judge has dismissed the charges. While the inmate technically may no longer be in custody, there is a very real possibility that the events that contributed to their death occurred while they were in custody and preceded their PR Bond or transfer to the hospital. By not reporting the death, the jail avoids the required criminal investigation. This could be viewed as circumventing the intent of the legislature and existing statutes.

The agency has requested an Attorney General's opinion to clarify the issue, but that "does not guarantee a solution."

'Several times per year' jails seek to conceal medical records from TCJS death investigators
Some local jails, particularly those who contract out medical care, have sought to prevent TCJS from accessing inmate medical records as part of death investigations. Because part of their role is determining whether jail staff followed physician's orders, this would keep them from providing meaningful oversight in such cases. From the report:

Several times per year, the agency will encounter opposition when requesting inmate medical records. This most often occurs when dealing with a facility that utilizes a contract medical provider. Other situations in which this has been an issue is when a facility is using a contract provider for mental health services. When this occurs, the provider most often cites HIPAA as the reason for their reluctance or refusal to provide access. In other cases, the provider will claim that the creation of these records are “proprietary” and not subject to disclosure. When either of these situations is encountered, it slows down the process of trying to determine if there were any violations of minimum standards in an extremely important area. Failure to provide adequate healthcare can have dire consequences, up to and including death. Unfortunately, we have determined on several occasions that jails have failed to follow physician’s orders, and being able to identify and correct this issue is extremely important. Current state law and the federal act regarding disclosure of medical records provides an exemption that we have been able to utilize in the past when this issue arises. However, there is still opposition as entities misinterpret (intentionally or due to lack of knowledge) this exemption and slow down the resolution of complaints and investigations. (emphasis added)

Dealing with rulebreakers more quickly
The agency tends to focus on administering technical assistance to jails that violate rules as opposed to using punishments to provide incentives. "Over the past decade, the agency has expanded the amount of technical assistance provided to jails to reduce potential areas of non‐compliance. This approach has been well received by county officials and has allowed staff to focus on larger issues while correcting minor ones at the time of inspection." (See here for examples of inspection reports.) But as a result of recent legislation, counties will be expected to regain compliance more quickly following rules violations:

When first created, the agency’s enabling statute allowed a county up to one year to regain compliance. This provision has recently come under criticism as being too long. One of the bills from the 86th Legislative session now requires facilities that are operated by a private vendor and fail an inspection to appear before our board at the next regularly scheduled meeting. These meetings take place on a quarterly basis, which significantly reduces the amount of time we would expect a facility to remain in non‐compliance.

How other states handle jail oversight
The report includes an excellent, three-page table (pp. 6-8 in the paginated document; pp. 8-10 of the pdf) describing how other states handle oversight of local jails. It's a very nice little compendium of the agencies, enabling statutes, and basic jail oversight functions across states.

Agency as 'referee'
State government regulates jail conditions, but local Sheriffs operate the jails and county commissioners courts provide their funding. This disconnect among responsibilities can inject the jail standards commission into local political fights:

County jails are rarely a priority for local government but represent one of the largest liabilities for them. This can create friction at the local level and prevent effective and constructive communication between the sheriff, who is responsible for the jail’s operation, and the Commissioner’s court, which is responsible for funding it. These are local issues created by local decisions, but they directly impact the effectiveness of the program. With a goal of having all jails operate in compliance, the agency is sometimes placed in the unenviable position of referee in our attempts to meet our goal.

Training new Sheriffs a particular problem
From the agency's perspective, every newly elected Sheriff amounts to a role of the dice. They all run on a "keep us safe" political platform that pretends they're out leading posses chasing bad guys and barely mentions the jail management function which, for most of them, is the most significant and time consuming part of their job. From the report:

Every four years, there is approximately 33% turnover of the sheriffs from the previous cycle who are taking office for the first time. Depending upon their background and previous experience, their understanding of jail operations and the role of the agency varies greatly. Early outreach and education occasionally alleviate some of the issues but not always and not with all the issues.

Shift to electronic reporting despite county opposition
The agency will finally stop receiving paper reports that have to be re-typed into spreadsheets and have counties begin providing statutorily required data electronically.

With the passage of HB3440 (86R) by Caprigilone, over the next two‐year cycle, the agency will be phasing in electronic reporting. This will consist of counties submitting to the agency each month a “locked” excel spreadsheet containing the statutorily mandated data. Prior attempts had been met with resistance from counties, but it is no longer feasible or even responsible to have one FTE assigned to nothing but data entry in 2019. By having the counties submit this data electronically, the FTE previously assigned will now perform quality control checks and simply import the data into the agency database. From there, the data can be used to run multiple reports that we are required to create. It is anticipated that the FTE previously assigned can now assist with other duties and functions of the agency as assigned.

Disconnected county computer networks prevent real-time data analysis
The agency is frustrated that legislators expect them to be more closely tracking data from local jails than they are technically able to at the moment, not just because of statutory reasons but because of technical issues related to linking disparate computer networks:

Efforts to educate members of the legislature about our ability to carry out certain tasks they would like accomplished are sometimes met with “dismissiveness.” Most of this is related to data collection and information submitted by the counties. At this time, there is no central database or portal into which counties can enter and submit information “real time.” The monthly population reports are simply a snap‐shot of the inmate population on the first of the month. The other reports required by statute are daily counts but deal with specific segments of the inmate population not the entire population. Part of the issue with this inability to tie the 240 county jails into a network is that each county has purchased or developed their own software with varying levels of compatibility and capability.

Low jailer pay degrades professionalism
The report directly linked a lack of professionalism among county jail guards to low pay.

With each county jail owned, funded, and operated by local government, they are the ones that decide how much to allocate for jail staff salaries. In an overwhelming majority of counties, the starting pay is a major drawback and jails have a difficult time recruiting and retaining qualified staff. This is an underlying factor in almost every instance of non‐compliance and makes it difficult for Jail Administrators to manage and operate a jail. This results in a wide range of professionalism amongst the jails that we regulate. This in turn requires agency staff to provide additional technical assistance to county jails to assist them in operating safe and secure facilities.

How 'jails have become mental hospitals, and jailers have become social workers'
The agency suggests additional training for local jailers on mental health, especially in rural counties, but they recognize the mental-health problem is bigger, more structural, and fundamentally budget-based than a training-only response can solve:

One area that we are exploring for possible expansion is mental health training. Interaction with an individual with mental illness is challenging even in the best of circumstances. Once a person with a mental illness enters the criminal justice system, that challenge is exacerbated by a factor that is simply hard to quantify. With insufficient mental health providers to service the general public, the need in jails is even greater. With an estimated 30% of the inmate population either diagnosed or exhibiting signs of mental illness, the demand far exceeds supply. By default, the result is that our county jails have become mental hospitals, and jailers have become social workers. Neither the facilities nor the staff that operate them are properly equipped to handle this continuing issue, and no long‐term solution is in sight.

"Difficult and unpopular would be the two most accurate words to describe any possible solution" to overuse of jails for mental health purposes, the report opined.

Administering "Prisoner Safety Fund" now a key agency function
In addition to its traditional functions, the agency now lists as one of its six key functions the administration of the "Prisoner Safety Fund," which state Rep. Garnet Coleman created under the Sandra Bland Act in 2017. That fund had its authority expanded earlier this year. Here's what it does:

Prisoner Safety Fund. The 85th Legislature created the Prisoner Safety Fund as part of SB1849(85R). The original purpose of the fund was to assist counties that operate a jail with a capacity of 96 beds or less with meeting the technology requirements set forth in the bill. There were two areas specifically targeted. The first was the ability to verify observation checks of the inmates by staff in high‐risk areas by an electronic means. This can be accomplished via camera or electronic sensor. The second was the provision to allow access to mental health services 24 hours a day via tele‐mental health services. The 86th Legislature amended the criteria in HB4468(86R) and increased the number of counties eligible to those that operate a facility with a capacity of 288 beds or less.

So the Legislature has created a fund specifically to prevent jail suicides and facilitate provision of mental health services. That could afford some interesting opportunities going forward, although each new funding battle will be a struggle. Certainly the problem hasn't been solved yet, as an AP report emphasized recently. See a detailed discussion of the (relatively modest) grant program beginning on page 71 of the pdf.) Most of the money in the fund has not been spent yet.

Records maintained by the Jail Commission
For those seeking records from the agency, here's a good description of what they have:

The Assistant Director authenticates the reports and data submitted. The following is authenticated to ensure accurate reporting of measures:

(1) Agency Calendar. Each entry is  required to have an associated memorandum prepared by the staff member involved in the activity. The staff member submits these memorandums to the Assistant Director, who reviews each entry on the calendar to ensure that a memorandum is available.  

(2) Inspector Activity Log. Each inspector is required to submit a monthly activity report. The Assistant Director compiles these reports into the Inspector Activity Log and verifies them for accuracy by reviewing a master log maintained by the Assistant Director. Any discrepancies are checked against the county’s inspection files, which are maintained in the agency file room. 

(3) Planning and Construction Log. The planner submits a log. Any activity that is designated as a key measure is reviewed by the Assistant Director to verify that the activity is denoted on the calendar or monthly activity report and that a memorandum is available. 

The Planning and Construction Log is maintained by the Planning and Construction Division and provided to the Assistant Director no later than the fifth day of the following month. The Planning and Construction Division notes the following:

1. Technical Assistance provided to counties on site. 
2. Occupancy Inspections conducted (pass or fail should be noted).
3. Special Inspections conducted. 
4. Training Attended/Conducted. 

Memorandums are submitted in order to document activities designated as key measures.

On pages 16-17 of the pdf is a list of all the datasets maintained by the agency. (Many of these are available on their website.)

Also, some researchers may find it useful to see the information commissioners are given at their meetings:

For each Commission meeting, a reference book is created that includes information on any issue that comes before them. In addition, this book contains current financial statements, copies of any audits or reviews that are periodically conducted by outside entities, and a listing of staff activities during the previous three months. There is also a section that contains the compliance status of all jails under our purview, number of complaints received against jails under our purview, population trends, and construction projects.

Forgotten history
Texas law has mandated safe and suitable jails since the 1920s, but the state didn't begin inspecting jails until 1969. That year, the federal court intervened in "almost 20" local Texas jails because of poor conditions. The Legislature changed the law to allow inspections. (Really, they removed a prohibition on inspections.) After that, "inspections were conducted of all 254 county jails, [and] all but six were found to be in violation of state law."

In 1974,  a survey revealed that 68 percent of jails did not provide 24-hour supervision; 121 left prisoners alone at night; 40 percent "slept prisoners on the floor."

The Legislature formally established the commission in 1975. By 1978, "The Commission became mired in controversy regarding funding, conflict of interest, and agency abolishment." However, 1979 witnessed, "Acceptance of Texas Minimum Jail Standards by Federal Courts and drastic reduction in federal court intervention. The Commission issued the first notices of non‐compliance [later that year], marking the beginning of enforcement efforts."

Inmates from outside Texas
A few county jails house contract prisoners from other states, in particular, "New Mexico, Arkansas and Idaho." New Mexico and Arkansas Grits can perhaps understand as a function of convenience,  proximity, and the logic of rural resources. The Idaho inmates, though, constitute their own mostly forgotten story; they're housed in a privately run facility down in Eagle Pass and the contract has caused lots of problems.

In addition, a few counties contract with private-prison companies to manage immigration-and-other-federal cases:

several federal agencies such as the Bureau of Prisons, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the United States Marshal’s Service, all contract for bed space that falls under the Commission’s regulatory authority and is subject to inspection. Included in this number are seven (7) privately operated facilities and the companies that operate them through inter‐governmental agreements between county and municipal governments.

Inmate and family complaint procedures
Starting at the bottom of page 47 of the pdf is a detailed discussions of procedures related to inmate an family complaints which may be useful to those who, you know, want to complain. However, one can't file a complaint with TCJS before first going through the local jail's grievance process. They're an oversight agency, not the first point of contact. (If you're going through this process, Grits would recommend contacting Diana Claitor at the Texas Jail Project, who has forgotten more about the subject of jail-grievance processes than Grits has ever known.)

AG punted authority to approve contract-inmate schemes to TCJS
Here's a weird tidbit about jail construction/finance I didn't know. Grits has covered numerous Texas county jails seeking to expand to house immigration detainees and other contract prisoners. But I was unaware that, in the early '90s, the Attorney General's Public Finance Division struggled with this question of

whether the financing of jails or detention facilities of substantial capacity intended to house inmates of governmental entities other than or in addition to those of the sponsoring entity meets the public purpose requirement for the issuance of bonds and other securities.

They decided to punt the issue to TCJS, requiring that the executive director provide a formal letter recommending construction. The commission grants these "if appropriate," but the report doesn't say how appropriateness is judged. It'd be an interesting project to gather all of these through open records to figure out how often speculative contract jails have been recommended and on what basis.

A #SandraBlandAct that omits the #SandraBland story?

Our pal Fatima Mann has an essay at Tribtalk on the Sandra Bland Act (SB 1849), coming to grips with the reality that the bill "does not speak to the case of Sandra Bland" after the Texas Senate defenestrated provisions restricting arrests for non-jailable offenses. Give it a read.

Despite the notable omission of ignoring the key issues in the Sandra Bland tragedy, the bill has some good stuff in it. Indeed, if not for the heightened expectations created by attaching Bland's name to it, it would be hailed as more significant than it seems now in the context of her terrible case. Among the bill's remaining provisions:

• Law enforcement "shall" make a "good faith effort to divert" suspects in mental health crisis or suffering from the effects of substance abuse to a treatment center.
• Authorizes "community collaboratives" to seek grant-funded opportunities to provide services to homeless people, substance abusers, and the mentally ill.
• Requires the Commission on Jail Standards to create rules on medication continuity requiring jail inmates' prescriptions to be reviewed by a qualified medical professional upon intake.
• Requires TCJS to order an independent investigation by an outside law enforcement agency whenever someone dies in a Texas jail. (Between 2005 and 2015, Texas averaged 101 jail deaths per year, with a low of 83 and a high of 126, according to the Texas Justice Initiative.)
• Orders TCJS to create a new examination for jail administrators.
• Requires law enforcement officers to receive 40 hours of de-escalation training (some of which is great and some of which is apologia - will require oversight) and jailers must receive eight hours of mental health training.
• Updates racial profiling data collection to include "warnings," whether physical force was used, and report whether contraband was discovered during roadside searches. (New data collection begins in 2018.)

One quibble: Grits would rather TCJS be given investigators to review the ~101 jail deaths per year themselves instead of appointing another law enforcement agency. Other local agencies won't typically have experience performing investigations in a correctional institution, which is a different kettle of fish from investigations in the free world. The reason they did it this way is to avoid a "fiscal note," but this may be something to revisit down the line when there's more black ink in the budget.

But in all, these are significant changes. Some of them, like the improvements to racial profiling data collection, have been sought unsuccessfully by advocates for many years. This explains why Ms. Mann adopted a glass-half-full attitude in assessing why this eponymic bill is worthy of support, even without addressing the issues which caused the death of its namesake:

Although the final version of the legislation, Senate Bill 1849, may not speak to Sandra’s death, it embodies her life of wanting to make a difference for people of African ancestry. She posted videos of herself speaking on issues people of the African diaspora faced in the United States. She recorded and posted herself speaking on the need for implementing policies that protect people in the community. Sandy used her voice to speak on the need for systemic change. ... 

The final version of this legislation embodies the spirit of Sandy’s life and the work she did to improve the community. Even though the bill does not address how she died, it does embody how she lived. She did not die because she had a mental health issue, she died because she should have never been detained for committing a non-jailable offense. 

Sandy spoke into her life that she would change the world. Her words inspired a bill that will create sustainable change.

Victoria jail ignores nutritionist limits on serving cold food

No longer do Victoria County Jail inmates receive "three hots and a cot," as the saying goes. The Sheriff switched to cold food only in the jail, eliminating all hot meals after inmates on a kitchen work detail were caught making jailhouse hooch. Reported Jessica Priest of the Victoria Advocate (July 27):

Inmates at the Victoria County Jail are eating sandwiches for lunch and dinner after several inmates were caught making alcohol in the kitchen.

But some inmates and their families have complained hunger is causing even more problems behind bars.

Amanda Garcia, who is in the jail on suspicion of violating the terms of her probation for a July 2015 theft between $500 and $1,500 case, is one of those hungry inmates complaining.

"We've been eating like this for three weeks. There's a lot of people in here mad about it. It's not right," Garcia, 23, said Tuesday.

As it happens, Jail Commission Standards require jail menus to be approved by a nutritionist. She "wrote on the menu that it 'meets the minimum daily requirements for macronutrients,' but 'should be used for less than two weeks, with the hopes of only one week usage.'" At three weeks and counting, they're already ignoring the limit recommended by the nutritionist. She approved the menu as a short-term fix, not ad infinitum.

Apparently, it's a lot cheaper not to cook food. "In July, the sheriff's office spent about $18,000 to feed inmates at the jail. It has budgeted $485,000 annually to feed inmates at the jail, according to the regular department payment register from the July 14 Victoria County Commissioner's Court meeting." So they're radically underspending this month compared to what's budgeted.

Here's a decent primer on when concerns with jail and prison food rise to constitutional levels. It takes a lot. On this particular topic:

Denying prisoners "hot" meals is not a violation of prisoners' rights, if the cold meals provided are adequate nutritionally, and all needed sanitary procedures are followed in the preparation and serving of the meals. Cosby v. Purkett, 782 F.Supp. 1324 (E.D.Mo., 1992).  See also, Amos v. Simmons, 82 P.3d 859 (Kan. App. 2004) (Serving a prisoner a sack lunch rather than a hot meal did not violate his rights when the food provided was nutritionally adequate and met his medical and religious needs.). 

In this case, though, cold meals are being served for longer than the nutritionist recommended and her recommendation to go back to regular meals after a week or two is being ignored. So that sounds to Grits like it may well rise to the level of a constitutional violation.

The jail submitted a four-phase plan to the commission to "restore discipline," replace male trusty staff, and to begin serving hot meals again. Notably, "Phase II begins with the acceptance of the emergency meal schedule by the general inmate population."  Their "acceptance" is an odd goal for a short-term change. Grits has no direct knowledge of the situation, but there's a whiff here of mass punishment for the offenses of a few. The plan envisions cold food being served to inmates for fourteen days under the "emergency meal menu," after which they would switch back. According to the Advocate, this has already been going on three weeks, with no end in sight.

The Victoria Jail's incarceration rate is 3.7 per thousand residents, compared to an average of 2.16 statewide. As of July 1st according to the Commission on Jail Standards, 56 percent of incarcerated inmates being held pretrial, having not yet been convicted of a crime.

Related: From the Marshall Project.

TX jail inspections could bump up to twice per year

Our pal Eva Ruth Moravec has a story up over at Quorum Report on jail suicides which opened:

An unexpected, sudden rise in suicides at county jails in a year that saw a record number of them – including the high-profile death of Sandra Bland in a Waller County lockup – has officials and experts in Texas scratching their heads.

Thirty-three people committed suicide in a Texas county jail in 2015, according to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. Records kept since 2010 show the number of suicides in previous years was between 19 and 26 in jails where about 1 million people are held every year. Since the fiscal year ended, commission Executive Director Brandon Wood said there have been another 10 suicides.

We also get a little backstory as to how the jail intake form became the main focus of regulatory reform:

Well before Bland's death, TCJS knew there were problems with its intake form, thanks in part to Diana Claitor, executive director of the Texas Jail Project. After analyzing reports on jails found out of compliance between 2010 and 2013, Claitor found that failing to properly screen inmates resulted in more demerits than anything else.

"We set up these things, but people have to have a will, and they have to be trained to make it important enough to do something with," Claitor said. "There's been discussions over the inadequacies of this form for a while, so it's a strong strategy to try to change this."

That's encouraging. Grits has been concerned that TCJS and state officials have focused nearly exclusively on improving this form as a solution, even though clearly it's not an end unto itself. So I"m glad to learn Brandon Wood was reacting to an issue advocates had identified as a problem. Without that bit of information, it seemed odd for TCJS to hype this change so hard. That it was a known problem advocates were already trying to change makes much more sense (to me) of his response.

Moravec reported on another possible reform which would have to be mandated by the Legislature:

The committees chaired by Whitmire and Coleman both are tasked with addressing jail safety and standards during the interim, and are actively brainstorming. Wood said he's been instructed by both bodies to work into his next budget requests for enough officers to inspect county jails twice a year, instead of just once.

[Former TCJS chief Adan] Munoz said increasing inspections will "keep jails on their toes and keep them from falsifying records. If you have more inspectors to do more routine surprise inspections, you'll have everyone ready 24/7." 

That would be a big change. Notably, the suggestion to double the number of state inspections comes at a time when the Harris County Sheriff just slashed the number of jail standards compliance officers in half at the state's largest county jail.

Roundup: The contested, alleged suicide of Sandra Bland in the Waller County Jail

Your preoccupied correspondent had not until this morning read the voluminous press surrounding Sandra Bland's untimely and unlikely suicide in the Waller County Jail last weekend. For those, like me, playing catchup on the story, here's a sampling from the barrage of coverage:

• UPDATED: See video from the stop.
• Video: DPS Officer Became Enraged Over Cigarette
• State jail commission cites Waller County officials after investigating Sandra Bland's death
• Violations cited in arrest, custody of woman in Waller County Jail
• Advocates press for details in Waller County Jail death
• Texas Rangers investigating death of woman in police custody
• FBI joins investigation into death of Waller County inmate
• Texas trooper in traffic stop violated policy
• Texas woman 'in good spirits' before jail death, friend says
• State Sen. Royce West calls on DPS to release video of woman’s traffic stop
• Waller County DA: Bland's death won't be 'swept under the rug'
• Community reacts to death inside Waller County Jail 
• Locals hold vigil, grapple with Sandra Bland's death
• Waller County Texas Sheriff Had Been Fired For Racist Remarks Before Chicago Woman Was Found Dead
• The Texas county where Sandra Bland died is fraught with racial tentions
• Woman Found Dead In Waller County Jail Cell Suffered with Depression, PTSD
• Officials decry some [social media] posts in Texas jail death 
• What we know about Sandra Bland, who died this week in a Texas jail
• Sandra Bland mourned from Illinois to Texas 
• On Twitter: #SandraBland

Texas county jail population reports now online from 1992 to present

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards has finally put their historical monthly county jail population reports online going back to 1992. Previously they only put the previous month's report online and took it down when the next one came in so you couldn't compare current and historic data without filing an open records request.

This will be a big help to anyone researching county jail issues. Grits last summer suggested in a blog post that TCJS put these old reports online and their executive director Brandon Wood said via email that request "provided the motivation" to create the archive, though the idea had been kicked around previously.

Moreover, Wood added, "Additional historical data will be posted to include paper ready, immigration, and eventually all of the annual reports from years past." Very cool. (Okay, or maybe I'm just very uncool for thinking that's cool; either way, I like it! Data geekery acknowledged.)

Thank you to everybody at TCJS who helped put this together and to Brandon for making it happen. I really appreciate this sort of transparency and I know other researchers will, too.

Does retaliation explain mentally ill Harris County inmate jailed amidst filth, feces?

Hard to stomach recent reports by KTRK in Houston that "A Harris County jail inmate, jailed on a marijuana charge while on probation and in need of mental health care, was left in his cell for weeks without being let out, living amid heaps of trash, swarms of bugs, and piles of his own feces." 

The Sheriff told the Houston Chronicle the episode was a one-off. But that doesn't jibe with KTRK's report that, "According to interviews with whistleblowers, many officials in the jail knew about the cell and its condition, including at least three lieutenants, one captain, one major and two chief deputies, including Chief Deputy Fred Brown, who oversees jail operations." A Texas Commission on Jail Standards inspection on Monday did not find the situation replicated.

The jail shouldn't be run that way, but the courts and defense counsel in the case may also share some blame: Terry Goodwin was arrested for marijuana possession but remained in jail for two months after his marijuana case was dismissed for reasons nobody can apparently explain, reported the Chronicle. Then "he was charged with assaulting a detention officer, a felony, by striking the jailer with his hand." He's now serving a three-year sentence in TDCJ for the assault with credit for time served.

One wonders if Goodwin's treatment, rather than reflecting general problems at the jail, resulted from retaliation by the guards and supervisors for assaulting a jailer? That scenario to me makes more sense of the facts than the notion that this was a mere oversight, especially if all those folks up the chain of command were aware of the situation. This one may require a particularly thorough housecleaning among HCSO brass if that turns out to have been the case.

Montgomery commissioner: Reduce number of pretrial detainees

More detail on Montgomery County commissioners clowning around on jail overcrowding instead of confronting its causes, mainly excessive pretrial detention, head on. Grits had discussed the situation here, then the Houston Press' Hair Balls blog (Aug. 22) added:

Montgomery County Commissioner James Noack held a meeting this week with court, jail and DA's office officials hoping to get at the root causes for the county's current predicament. The main problem, he says, is the amount of pre-trial defendants -- who are presumably innocent until proven guilty -- held in lockup.

According to the most recent numbers out of TCJS, 68 percent of those held in the Montgomery County jail are pretrial inmates. Statewide, 58 percent of county jail inmates are pretrial defendants. In Harris County, that number is 61 percent. In San Antonio, where county commissioners have made a concerted effort at pretrial diversion (like expanding specialty mental health and drug treatment courts), only 29 percent of county jail inmates are pretrial defendants.

Phil Grant, Montgomery County's first assistant district attorney, says the shuttering of the Sam Houston State University regional crime lab in 2012 exacerbated the county's jail woes. For example, the turnaround for blood analysis on felony DWI cases used to take about a week. Now, blood analysis and toxicology tests are done by the state DPS crime lab, which takes about six months, he says.

That means cases take much longer to clear. And if the defendants can't afford bail, they clog the jail for months.

Nate Jensen, the county's director of court administration, says recent years have seen an explosion in arrests and case filings as the local population grows. "Most agencies have more boots on the ground now," he said. "And if you have more police, you're going to have more instances where people...well, get caught." In 2004, about 4,000 felony cases were filed. Last year, the Montgomery County DA's office filed about 5,700.

Grits can't tell where the 29 percent figure for pretrial defendants in Bexar County comes from. I think it's wrong. Looking at the 8/1/14 county jail population report from the Commission on Jail Standards, misdemeanor, felony, and state jail felony inmates awaiting trial accounted for 57 percent of Bexar jail inmates, which is right around the statewide average. (Add the columns: "Pretrial felons," "Pretrial Misd.," and "Pretrial SJF.") In both Dallas and Travis Counties, astonishingly, 73 percent of jail inmates incarcerated on that day were there awaiting trial as of August 1.

Even so, I stand by my assessment that the number of pretrial defendants could be reasonably lowered to at least half or less of the overall jail population in Texas' larger counties.  Back in 1995, pretrial defendants made up just 30.3 percent of Texas county jail inmates. As of 8/1/14, they made up 59.5 percent of jail inmates statewide, a slight uptick from the previous month and up from 53 percent in 2008.

What's needed is to shift from bail-based pretrial release criteria to ones grounded in risk assessment tools and a system-wide cost benefit analysis. Whether someone can pay is a poor indicator of whether or not they'll show up in court. But pretrial services experts have developed pretty effective risk-assessment models that are much more probative to the key question at hand than whether some family member can cover 10 percent to a bail bondsman.

My view: Save punishment till post-conviction. These high rates of pretrial incarceration do little to further public safety and generate serious collateral consequences that in some cases do more harm than good.

Note to Brandon Wood, et. al., at TCJS: Please, PLEASE create an archive for your old monthly county jail population reports going back as long as you've got them! They're incredibly useful for historical comparison. Why not? :)

H/T: Off the Kuff.

Arguments against variances to cram more inmates into Harris County Jail

Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia is seeking yet another variance from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards to house extra prisoners in the county jail, even though the county and local law enforcement have failed to implement jail diversion programs that could prevent overcrowding. See:

• A letter from state Senators Whitmire, Ellis and Garcia criticizing the plan, and
• Suggestions for diversion alternatives from the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition

The letter from senators includes the following, highly relevant observations:

Our primary concern is that Harris County leadership is not fully utilizing "alternatives to
incarceration, including diversion initiatives and reentry efforts to reduce recidivism," as required on a request for a variance under 37 Tex. Admin. Code § 299.3(8). Variances are unnecessary when there are numerous, effective solutions that can be implemented to not only reduce jail population and eliminate the need for variances, but also increase public safety through more effective and efficient crime reduction strategies.

Over the past few years, problems in Harris County's criminal justice system, which have
contributed to its jail overpopulation, have been well documented. The most widely cited report documenting these problems was requested by Harris County and published by the Justice Management Institute (JMI) in June 2009. The JMI report found two overarching issues resulting in Harris County's jail overcrowding: 1) over-incarceration of drug possession offenders and those with mental illness combined with overreliance on jail as the primary — and often sole — resource for handling persons whose law-breaking is basically a result of substance abuse and mental illness, and 2) underutilization of pre-trial tools.

Historically, the jail has been able to reduce overcrowding by expanding the use of good time credit for eligible inmates and taking advantage of now-overturned policy changes regarding prosecution. Despite the progress made, persistent problems remain, and numerous readily available solutions to those problems — many of which were outlined in detail over four years ago in the JMI report — have not been utilized.

At the very least, County leadership must consider implementing front-end diversion programs similar to Dallas' Prostitution Diversion Initiative, evidence-based programs that divert addicts and the mentally ill into treatment, electronic monitoring, and reentry programs and services that will keep exiting individuals from re-offending.

As recommended by the JMI report, reducing the number of persons booked into the jail — or even brought to the inmate processing center prior to formal booking — is the first stage to help alleviate crowding. Pre-arrest diversion of persons who have committed relatively minor nonviolent offenses is one obvious way to reduce the intake of new inmates.

There are also thousands of low-level drug possession arrestees who could be more effectively addressed through pre-trial diversion, deferred adjudication, probation based on accurate assessments, and various other means of diversion available. These methods of diversion are more effective at reducing crime, a more efficient use of resources, avoid giving these non-violent offenders felony records, and reduce the county jail population. Further, revising intake, charging, and plea negotiation policies and practices in cases involving persons who are accused of relatively low-level offenses and whose conduct does not pose a danger to others will also help with overcrowding and encourage pre-trial diversion. Lastly, bail bond practices and pre-trial services need to be modernized to reduce pre-trial jail populations.

As the largest county in Texas housing the fourth largest city in the nation, Harris County should be at the forefront of implementing and perhaps even creating programs that ensure a safe and secure community and the efficient use of taxpayer dollars.

The continued granting and use of variance beds may prevent immediate crises, but it is not a long-term solution. In addition, it may prevent true collaborative efforts at the local level that could foster real, lasting reform. With that in mind, we urge you to thoroughly review the current variance request, take into consideration the above-mentioned issues, and recognize that more capacity is not the only solution. Ideally, this variance request process should motivate key criminal justice stakeholders in Harris County to reevaluate the options available to them and take steps to implement real jail reduction strategies.

Seven Texas county jails out of compliance with state regulations, other jail news

Now that the 83rd Texas legislative session is behind us (save for the unhappy and hot special session that starts today), it's time to explore some of the local and regional issues that have arisen while Grits' attention has been diverted. E.g., here are the latest inspection reports for county jails deemed non-compliant with regulations established by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS):

• Ector County (Special)
• Madison County
• Presidio County
• Stonewall County
• Yoakum County
• Young County
• Zavala County

Let's run through the highlights.

Ector County (Odessa) is one of the rare Texas jails of any size that's above capacity, though lately not by much.

In Madison County (Madisonville), the jail had a leaky roof and the locks to all the cell doors could not be operated electronically, requiring use of a key. (Grits mentioned the other day that locks and keys are more important to human security than most people give them credit for; nowhere is that more true than a jail.)

In Presidio County (Marfa), TCJS found fire safety violations, failures to meet training requirements and one jailer working who was unlicensed.

Tiny (population-wise, anyway) Stonewall County (Aspermont) was not adequately assessing inmates on intakefor mental health and suicide prevention criteria. Apparently one mentally ill inmate was incarcerated more than a month without being properly identified and referred. Also inmates weren't being given the required minimum amount of exercise/recreation time, which by TCJS rule is a paltry one hour per day, three days per week. On the day of the inspection, one jailer was working who was not properly licensed.

Slightly larger Yoakum County (Plains) had not provided adequate training to its staff and had not tested fire extinguishers or emergency power equipment as frequently as required.

Young County (Graham)was using new recruits in the jail before they'd received required training and jailers were not completing the required screening instrument for mental disabilities/suicide prevention.

The Zavala County Jail (Crystal City) is another rare jail with two dorms over capacity. Jailers had not received required life-safety training and the required Suicide Screening Form was not being completed immediately upon intake.

Click though on the bulleted links above for more detail on any specific county. It's a bit surprising that so many very small jails are on the list and none of the larger jails have lately been deemed non-compliant - for a while there, the big jails topped the list. Perhaps dramatically reduced jail populations have relieved their problems, which were frequently a function of overcrowding and/or understaffing. One hopes it's not an indication that the new administration (their long-time executive director Adan Munoz retired last year, replaced by his long-time understudy, Brandon Wood) has become hesitant to go after the more politically powerful players in larger counties.

Maybe it's good news that none of the larger counties (and only Ector among mid-sized counties) are on the commission's s#%t list. Perhaps it's a sign that the larger county jails are improving and professionalizing. Or perhaps it's a bit to early to make that inference. Another possibility is that regulators lately have focused on sanctioning jails in smaller, less-politically potent counties - either because there's less blowback than from sanctioning larger jurisdictions or perhaps because they'd been ignored in the past when the big jails dominated the commission's time. And, of course, the commission does not have adequate inspection staff, so the lack of big counties on the non-compliant list could just mean that TCJS hasn't gotten to those facilities yet this year. ¿Quien sabe? There's not enough information to tell, these are just the questions floating around in my head as I read these reports.

In other news garnered from perusing the TCJS website, I saw this new report on staff turnover (pdf) which found that Texas county jails statewide collectively suffered a 2% turnover rate in the month of March. If that figure held year round and jails really do lose 24% of their staff each year, that's a large number.

Another TCJS report (pdf) revealed that, in the month of May, county jails spent $6.45 million housing 5,406 offenders on immigration "holds" for a collective 109,476 bed days waiting for the feds to pick them up.

It's been a while since I've attended a Commission on Jail Standards meeting, which as formal public hearings go are remarkably well-attended by county officials and sometimes a hoot. And unfortunately, I'll be on vacation when the next one rolls around in August. It'd be great to have interns or somebody to help cover such TCJS meetings, sanctions, and other county jail issues. (Ditto for juvenile stuff.) The MSM have abandoned the beat, for the most part, and except in spurts this blog does not have the resources to effectively follow far-flung county jail issues. That's especially true where the local media don't provide particularly keen or critical coverage, as is often the case in rural jurisdictions. At the August commission meeting, which I'll have to miss, there will be a "workshop" (see the agenda [pdf]) where commissioners consider revisions to standards in the following areas:

• Complaints
• Remote Holding Cells
• Audible Communications 
• Supervision Outside the Security Perimeter
• Work Assignments

Kind of important stuff but lately, whether due to staffing cutbacks or simple disinterest, no Texas journalist has been routinely covering that beat. Regrettable.

Victoria paper examines jail suicides

The Victoria Advocate yesterday published an informative item ("Victoria County Jail takes steps to stop suicides by inmates," May 7) on Texas jail suicides which opened:

At a time when suicides are the leading cause of death in county jails, Texas jails are following tougher standards to bring down those numbers.

Authorities agree the application of the state's suicide prevention program at the Victoria County Jail helps keep the number of suicides and inmate uprisings to a minimum.

Of the five deaths in the county jail since the Texas Commission on Jail Standards began regulating them in 2009, two were suicides. The other three were listed as natural causes.

Texas once led the nation in jail suicides, but a state suicide prevention program has helped the state shake that stigma.

The statewide rate dropped from 31 in 1986 to 17 in 1994, according to an article by Graham Baker in Texas County Magazine.

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards reported 19 county jail inmate suicides last year.

See the rest of the story for details of strategies being pursued in Victoria in the wake of two recent jail suicides. It should be mentioned there have been some questions about undercounting suicides, but not enough to mitigate the downward trend described in the story compared to the '80s. In any event, as the leading cause of inmate deaths the issue has to remain a central focus of risk management at county jails.

Texas jail populations down 9.5% since 2008, declining faster than nationally

The Sentencing Project issued a press release today on a topic Grits has recently remarked upon: The decline in county jail populations, which have lowered significantly more quickly than prison populations. Says the Sentencing Project:

JAIL POPULATIONS DECLINING MORE RAPIDLY THAN PRISONS

Washington, D.C. - An analysis of new data on jail populations in the U.S. shows that the number of people confined in local jails is declining at a more rapid rate than in state and federal prisons. The Sentencing Project finds that from 2007-2010 the incarceration rate in jails declined by more than three times the rate of prisons, 6.6% compared to 1.8%.

“The sustained decline in both prison and jail populations has produced no adverse effects on public safety,” stated Marc Mauer, Executive Director of The Sentencing Project. “We now have the opportunity to free up resources for public safety initiatives that do not depend on record rates of incarceration.”

The analysis is based on data released today by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in its annual report of individuals in jail, Jail Inmates at Midyear 2011. The report shows a decline in the number of inmates for the third consecutive year. In its reports, BJS provides figures for jail populations at midyear and for prison populations at the year’s end. Jails are local facilities that generally house persons awaiting trial or serving short sentences, while prisons are run by state and federal governments to confine persons sentenced to one year or more of incarceration.

The BJS report also documents a sharp 23.4% reduction in the number of juveniles housed in adult jails between 2008-2011. The practice of housing juveniles with adults has come under criticism from a broad range of organizations because of increased exposure to violence and abuse.

The Sentencing Project is a national non-profit organization engaged in research and advocacy on criminal justice policy.

See the DOJ report (pdf), which notes that: "Local jails admitted an estimated 11.8 million persons during the 12 months ending midyear 2011, down from 12.9 million persons admitted during the same period in 2010 and 13.6 million in 2008. The number of persons admitted in 2011 was about 16 times the size of the inmate population (735,601) at midyear 2011."

Surprisingly, the reduction does NOT stem from expanded diversion programs. Nationwide, 62,816 defendants were "supervised outside of a jail facility" at mid-year 2011, down from 72,852 at the same point in 2008.

Inmates held on immigration detainers were one of the few countervailing trends: ICE detainers accounted for 3.3% of local jail inmates in 2011 nationwide, compared to 1.7% in 2005 (the 21st century floor).

Exceeding the national trend, Texas jail populations have reduced 9.5% overall since 2008, according to the Commission on Jail Standards, with Harris and Bexar Counties registering especially significant declines. Grits compiled this data (which includes prisoners housed out of county) from TCJS reports from the last five Aprils:



By arbitrarily picking April as the measuring stick, these data likely understate Texas' true jail population decline since jail populations max out in the summer. According to press reports, e.g., Harris County's jail population topped out at more than 12,000, including out of county inmates.

I'm curious: Why do readers think jail population declines (and smaller reductions in the prison incarceration rate) took so long to materialize after crime began to go down 20 years ago? Does it have more to do with crime trends or how localities are processing cases pretrial (personal bonds, GPS monitoring, etc.)? Are recent reductions sustainable or a mere blip on the radar?

Grits' sense is that these reductions represent just the beginning of what's possible. IMO there's a lot more slack in the system to take up, and a lot more county budget savings to be had from jail population reductions if local officials - particularly those concerned with high taxes - will embrace the meme. 

See related, recent Grits posts:

• Dallas jail population dropping as crime declines
• Harris County crime reduction undeterred by 31% drop in inmates

Mexico, Central American prison and jail problems make ours look petty

Just to keep Texas' prison and jail problems in perspective, in Honduras 358 or more inmates died last week in a prison fire, while yesterday in Monterrey, an affluent-business oriented town a two-hour drive from the Rio Grande, at least 44 were killed and guards were taken hostage during feuds between rival cartel members housed in the same facility. (According to the Austin Statesman, Los Zetas forces massacred prisoners associated with the Gulf Cartel "then staged a mass escape.") Indeed, for those keeping score at home, it's worth adding to the tally that in December 2010, prison officials helped 140 inmates escape through the front gate of a prison in Nuevo Laredo.

Texas prisons face much different challenges than Mexican or Central American ones. Ours mostly involve paying for the Legislature's mass-incarceration policies and preventing even more expensive prison building, with a little contraband-related corruption around the edges. But unlike in Mexico or, say, California, Texas has enough prison capacity (barely) to house the prisoners it incarcerates. By contrast, the facility which endured yesterday's riot in Monterrey was horribly overcrowded: "The prison, built to house some 1,700 inmates is jammed full with some 2,700 prisoners."

Meanwhile, the escape in Nuevo Laredo assisted by prison officials shows how corruption problems complicate all these other challenges. I don't know what prison-guard pay is in Mexico, but if it's anything like what Mexican cops receive, it isn't much. Mexican prison corruption, though, typically goes much deeper than just line staff.

As for the fire in Honduras, I've heard many a Texas Sheriff grouse about the Commission on Jail Standards flunking their facility's inspection over faulty sprinkler systems and fire alarms, which some (especially rural) jail administrators consider relatively petty violations. But when 358 people die locked up in jail as a fire consumes them, it doesn't seem so petty. And overcrowding played a role as well. Paul Kennedy picked up on the fact that "At the time of the fire there were 856 inmates in a facility designed to hold but 500. Even more appalling is the fact that more than half the inmates at the prison were either awaiting trial or being held as suspected gang members."

This blog focuses on criminal-justice reform in Texas because I live here. But it's important to recognize things could be much, much worse and some of these annoying bureaucratic dicta and inefficiencies that prison and jail administrators complain about actually serve to make everybody much safer. Just look south to see what happens without them.

Dallas jail population dropping as crime declines

The Dallas County Jail right now houses roughly 7,800 inmates, according to comments by the Dallas County Sheriff's Office to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards this morning, down from more than 10,000 at its height. That's more than a 22% reduction, but even that may be low-balled. According to the most recent TCJS jail population report (pdf), as of Jan. 1 the Dallas Jail had just 5,741 inmates, which would amount to more than a 40% reduction, from the 10,000+ max.

This news comes on the heels of reports that Harris County (Houston) has 31% fewer inmates than their maximum just a few years ago, while the Bexar County Jail population is down 22% from its height. In all three counties, crime has dropped significantly throughout the period that jail populations went down.

Bexar commissioners wonder why 1,000 fewer prisoners in jail brings no budget savings

Grits wrote on Sunday that it's "almost becoming the norm in Texas jails to understaff them considerably and make up the difference paying overtime at time-and-a-half." I was writing about the jail in Midland, but the same thing's going on, reports the SA Express News ("Disputes over jail staffing may move closer to resolution," Dec. 20) at the Bexar County Jail in San Antonio, much to the commissioners court's consternation. The story opens:

Guards are being forced to work excessive overtime and will continue to steadily quit as their morale hits all-time lows, the consequence of cutting 100 positions at the Bexar County Jail through attrition, warns Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz.

But ask county commissioners and County Manager David Smith, and they'll tell you the mandatory overtime is unnecessary, the jail is mismanaged and wastes money, and the 2012 budget cuts reflect the actual needs at the facility.

Conflicting views of the jail aren't new in Bexar County, but a new staffing analysis by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, the state jail oversight agency, is expected next month and could bring the two sides closer.

“We have no vested interest as a third party,” said TCJS Executive Director Adan Muñoz. “Our only concern is: Can you get enough people to show up when you need them to? We do this routinely for jails, and it usually amounts to a difference of opinion between commissioners courts and sheriffs' offices.”

The commissioners court is frustrated that reducing the jail population hasn't resulted in tangible savings for the county budget:

“Obviously we don't agree with the way that they're running the jail,” said County Judge Nelson Wolff. “They refuse to recognize the fact that we have 500 less prisoners, and they still want the same number of people. It doesn't make sense to us.”

In January 2009, when Ortiz took the helm, there were 932 detention officers and the average daily inmate population was around 4,300, according to Smith. That summer, population peaked at around 4,600. Last week, it dipped to less than 3,600, a level not seen in a decade.

Staffing wasn't cut until the 2012 budget, passed in September. Exactly how many guards remain depends on whom you ask.

“We've used tons of money on drug courts, on mental health courts, on trying to treat people instead of incarcerate them,” Wolff said. “We've brought the population way down, but there's no savings on running the jail.”

For starters, kudos to Bexar County (and it could only result from a collective effort by many people) for reducing the jail population 22% in a year-and-a-half. That's a remarkable accomplishment. And indeed, it does seem queer that overtime costs haven't declined as a result.

At a staffing ratio of 48-1 (mandated by the Commission on Jail Standards), in theory a reduction of 1,000 inmates would allow the jail to have 20 fewer guards on duty at any give time. Other jails that have reduced populations were able to commensurately reduce jail expenditures. So I can understand commissioners' frustration. But classification issues and other complications aren't taken into account in such back-of-the-napkin calculations, so it's good they've turned to TCJS as a neutral arbiter.

Such conflicts between sheriffs, who run county jails, and commissioners courts, who hold the purse strings, are a fundamental, structural feature of jail oversight in Texas. While providing additional checks and balances, it also frequently results in gridlock and needless conflict over rather routine  management decisions, particularly when commissioners and the sheriff come from different political parties or indulge in personal feuds. I don't know who's right about the jail staffing question in Bexar County, but it seems to me a factual dispute, not an ideological one.

Munoz to retire, Jail Standards Commission to reevaluate lockup rules

Texas Commission on Jail Standards executive director Adan Munoz announced at the agency's November meeting, and in its most recent newsletter (pdf) that he will retire at the end of September 2012. Buena suerte, amigo!

Another notable change at TCJS:

In an effort to provide greater access to our quarterly workshops and Commission meetings, we are excited to inform you that you are now able to watch us via webcast. Simply log on to Texas Legislature Online (www.legis.state.tx.us) and click on House Video Broadcasts under the Legislative Activity section. You can view the November Commission meeting by visiting the Archived Capitol Events section. Future workshops and meetings will be broadcast live, or may be viewed at a later time by visiting this section.

Munoz's #2, Brandon Wood, wrote in the newsletter that TCJS is for the first time now collecting two new pieces of information related to jail staff turnover and the number and cost of illegal immigrants in jails. On staff turnover, "It will require several months’ worth of data before any trends are identified, possibly even a year’s worth."

However, they did get some preliminary findings on immigration numbers: Based on self-reported costs, Texas counties spent just over $7 million in the month of September to house 5,799 inmates with an immigration detainer for a total of 117,700 inmate days. Most of that amount (more than $84 million per year, annualized) historically has been reimbursed by the feds. However, between budget constraints and new accountability measures, that money may not be flowing quite as freely in the near future:

Even if the Federal reimbursement program survives, it is expected to be funded at a rate less than this most recent fiscal year. The initial funding request for the program was $194 million dollars less than the previous year and is expected to no longer allow for reimbursement of unverified inmates and focus more on removal of criminal aliens. In order to receive reimbursement, inmates will have to be verified, which can be accomplished through programs such as Secure Communities.

This is an important change, since in the past, unknown inmate days were allowed to be submitted for reimbursement.

A report on the most recent Commission meeting mentioned that, "the Commission voted to approve Harris County’s application for 720 variance beds, an application that was opposed by two Texas legislators."

Lots of jails are still getting built: At the time the newsletter was published, "Eight jails are in the planning stages and 19 jails are under construction." Several jails just completed new construction, including 200 new beds in Harrison County (Marshall), 219 in Midland County, and 356 beds in Cameron.

Finally, the Commission will be comprehensively reviewing minimum Texas jail standards over the coming months at workshops preceding each of their next three meetings. (The next workshop and meeting are Feb. 2 and 3, respectively.) Here are the deadlines for commenting on minimum jail standards for anyone who'd like to contribute to the review:

Jail commission will webcast discussion on new standards

Another item from the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition newsletter that will be welcome news for those outside of Austin with an interest in the Commission on Jail Standards, which is more than a few folks:

Meeting on Jail Standards Revisions to Be Webcast

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (Commission) will re-engage its initiative to update minimum jail standards.  To encourage ongoing interaction with key stakeholders throughout the process, the Commission will meet in a workshop session on November 2, 2011, at 2pm, in the John Reagan building, Room 120, to outline proposed changes.  The initial workshop session will discuss procedures and process, but NO action will be taken on these proposed changes at this workshop.

• Click here for a list of the proposed changes. 

Since not everyone with a vested interest can attend the meeting, comments on any of the proposed changes should be sent to info@tcjs.state.tx.us or faxed to 512-463-3185.

In addition, the Commission will be launching its first-ever webcast of the meeting.  It will be available online here!  Once you open the link, go to "Video Broadcasts" (right-hand column in gray, under "Legislative Activity") and open the "House" link.

In addition to viewing the workshop session through this link, you can also view the Commission's quarterly meeting on November 3, 2011, at 9am.

TCJS will continue to broadcast both workshop and regular quarterly meetings as its budget allows.

Some of the proposed changes (pdf) are interesting, including a provision to find jails non-compliant if they don't promptly respond to public information requests. Excellent suggestion! Another provision would "allow sheriffs to utilize peace officers in addition to jailers when inmates are outside the security perimeter." Many are technical changes holding little interest for reformers or jailers either one, but some are substantive so if you're professionally interested read the whole thing (pdf). Here's the agenda (pdf) for that meeting, which incidentally includes variances requested by the Harris County Jail among "new business," possibly related to the volume of inmates in pretrial detention who must be transported to court everyday. A webcast, particularly if they'll archive them, will make TCJS activities a lot easier to follow.

Harris jail noncompliance caused by using pretrial detention to coerce plea deals

The Harris County Jail has been cited again by the Commission on Jail Standards for overcrowding, but as has long been the case really their problem is understaffing. Reported James Pinkerton at the Houston Chronicle (Oct. 11):

The state jail commission cited Harris County for having 355 prisoners more than authorized in 19 cells in the basements of two criminal justice buildings on Monday, the latest setback in a chronically overcrowded jail system that costs taxpayers $18 million a year in overtime alone.

The citations were issued by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, after inspectors made a surprise inspection at 5 a.m. Monday of holding cells beneath court facilities at 1201 Franklin and an adjacent building at 1301 Franklin, which are connected by tunnels to the county jail.

One holding cell at 1301 Franklin with an approved capacity of five inmates was packed with 25. In cellsbeneath 1201 Franklin, only five jailers were supervising 409 prisoners, fewer than the nine required by state law. Inmates housed in the holding cells await court proceedings.

The jail commission's executive director, Adan Munoz, said the "blatant overcrowding" his inspectors found in the holding facilities Monday will not be tolerated. He added the situation posed not only a potential health danger to inmates, but an opportunity for a riot, an attack on inmates, or an escape attempt.

"That's dangerous, when you put that many inmates in a cell," Munoz said. "One had 76 in a 23-person cell. My God, that's a danger in itself. It could be a health issue."

Munoz said Harris County has 30 days to submit a plan to correct the deficiencies and must be able to show the remedy is working for 30 days to avoid state sanctions.

"My inspector there this morning mentioned the cells were not only overcrowded but they smelled, it was filthy,'' Munoz said.

County Sheriff Adrian Garcia said overcrowding in holding cells is due to a shortage of jailers, adding he has repeatedly asked for authorization to replace some of the 300 full-time jailers who have left. The jail operates on a $220 million annual budget and employs 2,274 employees.

There's a sense in which this issue is being falsely framed: The immediate problem is not "overcrowding' per se but understaffing. When Grits visited the jail in 2010, there were 600 empty beds on the upper floors that could only be staffed with overtime. This was a key reason Grits opposed Harris County's jail expansion plan a few years back: What good does it do to add extra cell capacity if there aren't enough guards to staff the facility now?

One welcome difference from similar debates in the past, "District Attorney Pat Lykos  released a statement saying her office is 'committed to working with all relevant officials to resolve the situation to ensure compliance' with state jail standards." If that's true, then the problem can perhaps be mitigated. Sheriff Garcia alone can't reduce the number of prisoners in the jail or manufacture extra staff out of thin air. He needs assistance from other players in the system, and the largest share of responsibility lies with judges and the DA's office.

You can see that reading between the lines at the end of Pinkerton's story. Though Judge Belinda Hill disputed it, the Sheriff's Office says that half of inmates brought to court - those in the holding cells criticized for understaffing - never made it into the courtroom, usually because prosecutors and defense attorneys reached a plea deal. This brings up the real issue: Prosecutors routinely request and judges routinely require bail for low-risk, low-income defendants primarily for the purposes of pressuring them for a plea bargain, not because they're a serious public safety risk if released awaiting trial. For many if not most jail inmates, the main incarceration they'll experience will be during pretrial detention, not serving a post-conviction punishment. At its endgame, the purpose for incarcerating so many low-risk defendants pretrial isn't so much to protect the public - nearly all of those who aren't sent to prison will get out soon, anyway - as to lower the workload of already overwhelmed courts, which would be completely swamped if more defendants exercised their right to trial.

So judges would rather create problems for the Sheriff than reduce overcrowding because reducing pretrial detention would lower incentives for defendants to take plea deals. These practices have grown the system to the point where the commissioners court can no longer afford to adequately staff the jail without significant tax increases that are not politically palpable. As a result, the system flounders.

Whatever solutions are proposed to the immediate problem, we're dealing with symptoms rather than the underlying pathogen. Ultimately the volume of cases piped through the system is unsustainable, and squeezing the balloon in one area, like the jail, causes it to bulge in other places like the courts. As Grits has lamented many times, we live in an era when the criminal justice system is treated as the go-to solution to every social problem from addiction to homelessness to immigration to mental illness: That's a situation the courts and sheriff didn't create, but which in the short to medium term they must manage. In the long run, the better solution is for the Legislature and local government to create alternative mechanisms besides cops, courts and jails to deal with those in society who're perhaps troublesome but not especially dangerous.

Bexar court used bureaucratic ruse to keep suicide off jail stats

While preparing a post the other day on staffing at the Bexar County Jail, I ran across a brief story from the SA Express-News about a jail inmate who hung himself in a detoxification cell at the jail in June. "Adrian Rodriguez, 31, was pronounced dead at University Hospital  on Saturday. He had been found hanging in a detoxification cell at the jail Thursday, the Bexar County medical examiner's office said. He died of complications of a hanging; his death was ruled a suicide."

Notably, the Bexar County Jail has been criticized for having far more inmates commit suicide than national averages, and for failing to adequately screen inmates for suicide risks. In this case, "A screening at the City Magistrate's office and again at the jail, where [Rodriguez] saw a psychologist, found 'no indication that he was suicidal,'" A consultant hired last year to analyze jail suicides found that the jail exhibited "an unexplained tolerance for potentially suicidal behavior."

What drew my attention, though, was the bureaucratic sleight of hand used to keep from counting this event in the jail's overall suicide tally. Reported the Express News, "While in the hospital, he was given a personal recognizance bond Friday, so 'he was technically not in custody,' said Adan Munoz, executive director of Texas Commission on Jail Standards. 'We are going to follow up, if there's anything there, but it's not being handled as an in-custody death.'" So they found the guy hanging in his cell, he died from injuries sustained in the hanging, but it's not officially an "in-custody death." Really?

The inmate had been arrested on a robbery charge and had " a lengthy criminal record," according to the paper, so it's pretty clear the personal recognizance bond was merely a ruse to keep another suicide from going on the jail's record. Jailers can't issue personal bonds on their own, though: They'd have needed the cooperation of the District Attorney's office and a local judge to push the bond through, and they'd need to do so in an extraordinarily expedited fashion to get it done between the time the inmate was found hanging in his cell and when he was declared deceased.

One wonders how many other jail suicides have been whitewashed off the books in Bexar County in this fashion?

Cameron jail fails inspection over understaffing, inmates sleeping on floor

The Cameron County Jail failed an inspection because inmates were sleeping on the floor - not because beds weren't available but because the jail was understaffed and couldn't monitor an additional wing. Reported the Brownsville Herald:

The Cameron County jail division has been reprimanded by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards for having inmates sleep on the jail floors, which violates TCJS rules.

An annual inspection of the county jails this week found the county in violation of Section 259.134 of the Texas Administrative Code that deals with multiple occupancy cells, said Adan Muñoz, executive director of the TCJS.

“We did find some noncompliance issues, but mostly they were in regards that they were operating above the approved capacity and the inmates were on the floor, which is in violation of standards,” Muñoz said.

The code specifically states that the floor space in the jail cells should be clear. In Cameron County’s case, inmates were found sleeping on the floors during the inspection, said Shannon Herkoltz, assistant executive director.

“They had available beds, but their deal was they said ‘We are not going to put them in the beds because we don’t have eyes to watch them,’” Herkoltz said. “So in their opinion, it was better to put them on the floor where they had officers stationed.”

Part of Cameron's problem is that, when they built their jail, they built beyond capacity in order to accept contract inmates from the US Marshals Service. For a while they were paying more to house their own inmates elsewhere than the Marshal's Service was paying them for the beds they rent.

The Sheriff's Office tried to spin the news, falsely claiming that this was an "emergency" inspection brought on by media reports, when really it was their usual annual inspection (which as of last session are now performed unannounced). Reported the Herald:

Chief Jail Administrator Mike Leinart told Commissioners Court that TCJS conducted an emergency inspection because of the media reports and “wrote us up.”

“The jail standards was in another county, and when they read that we were losing six jailers in the newspaper, they did an emergency inspection on us. ... They wrote us up and I have to send 60 inmates out today (Thursday).”

County Judge Carlos H. Cascos countered that the reprimand could not have come because of the media reports, because the changes in jailers won’t occur until October.

“They did not come and find the jail not in compliance (because of the number of jailers), because we had not done anything yet,” Cascos said.

Leinart later conceded that TCJS’s action had nothing to do with what action the county was to take Oct. 1.

Cascos said Friday that county commissioners were not given the full story at their meeting Thursday.

“We were not told that last night that (inmates) were sleeping on the floor. What we were told that the prisoners were moved out because we did not have adequate staffing,” he said.

“It’s disturbing and we need to make every effort to comply with the law and rules set forth by the jail commission,” Cascos said.

Sheriffs pretty routinely treat TCJS like the bogeyman, blaming them in the press for problems of their own creation. I find it rather humorous to see them getting caught in a fib over it.