The Dallas County Jail on Tuesday passed a state inspection for the second time this year.
The jail for years had failed Texas Commission on Jail Standards inspections before that.
“This inspection represents our accountability to the community, and spotlights the hard work produced by Dallas County Sheriff’s employees," Sheriff Marian Brown said in a written statement. "I am elated about the inspection, and we will continue to do the work.”
Brown has led the department since 2018 and was re-elected in November.
This week's annual assessment was not immediately available for review so it's unclear whether needs for improvement were noted.
Dallas civil rights lawyer Dean Malone also had not seen the report.
"I have learned over the years that the decision by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards to find a jail compliant even when it provides [improvement guidance], is discretionary," he said. "So, in other words, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards could find a number of areas in which technical assistance is provided and which could be grounds for finding the jail to be noncompliant. But the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, for whatever reason, would choose not to do so."
Malone has at least one pending case involving a death at the jail.
"With regard to the Dallas County Jail, we have resolved one case and we are litigating another case regarding a water intoxication death," he said. "There is yet a third case of which we are aware of another water intoxication death."
Malone said it's surprising "that after we litigated and resolved the first case after several years, that we've not seen any evidence that the Dallas County Jail has implemented any policies or procedures to avoid these kinds of deaths."
The inspection includes assessments of sanitation, inmate supervision, hygiene and health and food services among other areas.
In February it passed a week-long, surprise state inspection, though the report revealed shortcomings.
The jail's West Tower, the oldest in the compound, didn't have overhead sprinklers or fire hoses — Dallas County's fire marshal in 2010 had allowed extinguishers instead.
The state said to replace the sprinklers or fire hoses.
Investigators ultimately were satisfied with an acknowledgement from fire officials affirming they can and will respond to all possible fires in the high-rise building.
Also, among 40 random files reviewed during the previous inspection include an inmate not getting medication many times.
Malone said water intoxication cases typically involve people with severe mental health issues who are in jail.
"We handle an unfortunate number of jail death cases across Texas. Sometimes we see patterns. Sometimes we don't," Malone said.
He said the most concerning pattern he's seeing in the Dallas County Jail are water intoxication deaths.
" I've handled a lot of cases, and I cannot recall other than cases regarding the Dallas County Jail ever handling another water intoxication death...and to have three of those that I know of...it is really concerning," he said.
Another note on the previous inspection report was a maximum custody detention mix up.
“It was determined by the inspection team that on occasion, the classification plan was not followed,” the report said. “It was determined that on a few occasions staff did not properly utilize the override procedures to ensure that a maximum custody inmate retained maximum custody level status during reassessments.”
Staff retraining was already scheduled to improve inmate classification and completion documents will be sent to the commission.
Dallas County’s jail — as it’s recognized today — opened almost 60 years ago.
The Lew Sterrett Justice Center, the “North Tower,” was added in 1993.
Dallas is the state’s second-largest county, behind Harris and in front of Tarrant — which both outsource inmate detention.
The jail is managed by the Dallas County Sheriff's Office and provides inmates with medical and mental health care from Parkland community health system and rehabilitation and reintegration programs.
As of Wednesday morning, the jail population was 6,445.
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