DOJ report sheds light on conditions inside Tarrant County jail amid criticism over inmate deaths

A new report from the U.S. Department of Justice reviewed the conditions and procedures at the Tarrant County Jail.

The DOJ’s National Institute of Corrections visited the jail in May at the request of Sheriff Bill Waybourn.

The report comes amid concerns from activists over in-custody deaths at the jail.

For months the Tarrant jail has been surrounded by controversy over the number of deaths among inmates.

County leaders told NBC 5 on Thursday that since the start of 2017, 66 people have died in custody at the Tarrant County Jail, the third-most of any county jail in the state during that time according to Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office data.

“Over the past several months we’ve had activists demanding that the Department of Justice come in and do an investigation of the Tarrant County Jail,” said Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn.

Waybourn said he invited the DOJ to review the jail’s conditions, and for three days in May, a team from the NIC conducted an audit.

The findings:

“I think this absolutely proves that our people are advocates for these inmates,” said Waybourn.

“Several practices meet and may even exceed national standards of care,” the report listed among its findings. “The facilities were all quite clean as compared to the vast experience of the TA review team in assessing jail settings.”

The investigators said the jail staff and medical staff from JPS hospital, “Do a solid job meeting the needs of incarcerated individuals.”

The audit also highlighted concerns, saying the jail needed to increase staffing amid 180 current vacancies, the jail facility and housing units should be remodeled, and staff needed to start conducting new health checks on inmates 10-14 days after intake.

"The greatest concern and area for improvement is related to the restrictive conditions of confinement for those identified as having significant assessment and treatment needs, such as those at risk for suicide, those detoxing, and those on a mental health recommended single-cell status," said the report. "They experience confinement for 23 of 24 hours per day and may have further restrictions to accessing some personal items."

"Appropriate changes would involve formalizing levels of suicide watch (constant observation and staggered observation) that do not simply restrict an individual to a cell and limit items that would provide opportunities to improve one’s mental health, reduce distress, and allow interactions with others, including more private reassessment
and treatment settings," the document continued. "Reduction in the single-cell status and culture would allow for more
opportunities for normalization and treatment."

“My hope is that the majority of good people that read this will see the good things that we’re doing, see the suggestions that have been made, and know that we’re doing what we should be doing,” Waybourn said.

Some county leaders disagreed.

“Calling this, ‘We’ve been cleared by the Department of Justice,’ is not accurate,” said Alisa Simmons, Tarrant County Commissioner for Precinct 2. “It’s not true.”

The introduction of the report from the NIC said, “Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice.”

Simmons told NBC 5 that because of that language, she planned to continue pushing for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division to conduct a longer-term investigation into the jail.

She also believed this report’s recommendations didn’t sufficiently address in-custody deaths.

“Until these deaths subside, and they stop occurring, those recommendations or those findings by this NIC do not go far enough,” said Simmons.

The sheriff said his office was working to reduce the staffing shortage, saying that action would help address some of the report’s other recommendations.

You can read the full site visit report from the NIC here: