By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-828490.mp3
Dallas, TX – The Dallas County Jail has failed its annual inspection for the seventh time. KERA's BJ Austin says inspectors listed 9 shortcomings primarily fire safety and maintenance.
Inspectors from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards spent the week at the jail. County Commissioner John Wiley Price says they found problems again with the smoke detectors and smoke evacuation system. Price says there were also some personnel problems on the list.
Price: Some of the bailiffs left individuals in the holding cells and apparently went to lunch, and that's a no-no. They were not happy with us with regards to that, and they shouldn't be.
Sheriff Lupe Valdez says the brand new South Tower failed a plumbing check.
Valdez: We got some issues with the plumbing there that were not noticed when there were only 30 people working there. Now that there's 500 people there, some problems have come up that didn't come up when we tested it.
The first inmates were moved into the South Tower just two weeks ago. The Sheriff says she's extremely disappointed, and plans urgent discussions with county maintenance officials. The Jail Commission wants a list of solutions from the Sheriff at its meeting in May.