Texas Jails Under Fire: 10 Facilities Are Failing to Meet Standards

Aross the state of Texas, you will find 254 counties, and almost all of those counties have jails.  Of course, these jails house people who have committed crimes and those who are accused of committing crimes.

Jails house human beings and certain standards have to be followed in the State of Texas.

What are Texas Jail Standards?

There is a commission in Texas called the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.  This commission is in charge of establishing and enforcing minimum standards for the construction, maintenance, and operation of Texas county jails.

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The TCJS is comprised of 4 inspectors who are in charge of inspecting 244 county jails at least once a year, or multiple times per year if it is a higher-risk jail.  Often these jails are found to have one or more violations that must be corrected upon receipt of their report.

What Happens If a Texas Jail Doesn't Comply With Texas Jail Standards?

Many counties do not correct their violations of the jail standards.   If a jail does not correct their violations, the TCJS will then publish a report on the violations and put the jail on the Non-Compliance list.  Once the jail has corrected the violations, they will be removed from he list and the report removed.

In other words, the punishment for non-compliance is being called out.

As you can see from up above, two jails, Falls County and Liberty County, have been non-compliant for a while.  Hopefully, this isn't affecting the care of the inmates within the walls of these jails.