The executive director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, Brandon Wood, confirmed to 四虎影院 that his agency knew about the death. He said state law requires that an outside agency conducts a criminal investigation. TCJS will do its own review to look for violations of administrative rules.
Wood declined to identify the agency conducting the criminal probe. The Texas Rangers, which often investigates deaths in county jails, did not reply to an email from 四虎影院.
The Dallas Observer last week鈥檚 death of an inmate on suicide watch. It said a report from a detention officer said other inmates alerted jailers to the situation.
Inmates on suicide watch were of particular concern to state inspectors who visited the Dallas County Jail last month. After comparing written logs with video footage, they observations of suicidal inmates in the intake holdover housing unit 鈥渨ere being incorrectly documented.鈥�
Jail administrators were instructed to periodically give the state proof that written logs and videos 鈥渉ave been compared/verified and are in compliance with TCJS minimum jail standards and Dallas County Jail standard operation protocol.鈥�
The failed inspection placed the facility on a list of jails for the second year in a row. State regulators are working with the jail to get it back into compliance.
Wood said the in-custody death could affect the jail鈥檚 compliance, but it鈥檚 too soon to know.
鈥淭here may not be any issues whatsoever associated with this death in custody,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e just have to wait until we get done with the investigation.鈥�
According to data from the Texas Justice Initiative and the Texas Attorney General鈥檚 Office, nine people died in 2021 in the custody of the Dallas County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, which runs the jail. The Tarrant County Sheriff鈥檚 Office had 13 in-custody deaths last year. The Collin County Sheriff鈥檚 Office had one.
Dallas County鈥檚 population is about 2.6 million residents, while Tarrant County has about 2.1 million and Collin County about 1 million.
Got a tip? Email Bret Jaspers at bjaspers@kera.org. You can follow Bret on Twitter .
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