County Progress asked Terry Julian, Executive Director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS), to address some of the relevant issues facing county jails. Q: What level of involvement should the commissioners court have with the county jail? A: County commissioners should have oversight of issues affecting the sheriff’s jail budget. County commissioners are also … [Read more...] about Texas County Jails: Current Events
Jails
Jail Diversion Programs Target Offenders With Mental Illness
Slowly but surely, the state of Texas is trying to turn a complicated, costly, and often heartbreaking saga into a coordinated, comprehensive service delivery system – and counties are right in the thick of it. Anywhere from 16 percent to 20 percent of offenders in the Texas criminal justice system have a mental health diagnosis, said Leon Evans, director of the Center for … [Read more...] about Jail Diversion Programs Target Offenders With Mental Illness
Texas Commission on Jail Standards Mental Health Study
The 78th Legislature’s House Bill 1 directed the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) to conduct a study relating to mental health screening and treatment practices of inmates with mental illnesses. To accomplish this, the TCJS and the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments (TCOOMMI) identified a number of stakeholders to participate as … [Read more...] about Texas Commission on Jail Standards Mental Health Study
Bexar County Jail Diversion Program
The Bexar County Jail Diversion Program Model (BCJDPM) has been designed and developed through an expansive effort of community leaders and stakeholders to address the practice of utilizing the jail system for the inappropriate “warehousing” of individuals with substantial mental health issues and to minimize the use of the arrest/booking process of adult offenders with mental … [Read more...] about Bexar County Jail Diversion Program
Jail Inmate Labor: Mandatory vs. Voluntary
A recent Attorney General Opinion has prompted discussion concerning appropriate use of jail inmate labor. In Opinion No. GA-0261, Attorney General Abbott responded to a request from the Goliad County Attorney on whether Article 43.10, Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP), authorizes a county to use inmate labor in a joint venture between the county and a non-profit … [Read more...] about Jail Inmate Labor: Mandatory vs. Voluntary