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The Cherokee County Jail was recently found to be noncompliant with Texas Jail Standards.

“As sheriff, I take full responsibility for these infractions, and I am working diligently to bring our facility back into compliance,” Cherokee County Sheriff Brent Dickson said Wednesday in a press release.

In Texas, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) oversees county jails, conducts inspections, investigates complaints, and determines compliance with state regulations. If a facility fails to meet standards, the commission can issue notices of non-compliance, require corrective actions, or, in extreme cases, order a jail to close.

“The jail was found in noncompliance for medication distribution procedures, restraint procedures, recreational procedures, and failing to do a proper face-to-face observation at the time of an inmate’s death,” Dickson said.

According to the sheriff, the infractions were due to a lack of documentation by jailers.

“As a result of this inspection, I have taken the proper and necessary disciplinary actions against several jailers who failed to document their actions correctly during their shifts,” Dickson said.

Required corrective measures

A TCJS report outlined several corrective actions the Cherokee County Jail must take:

• Ensure prescription medications are administered according to a physician’s instructions, as records failed to confirm proper distribution.
• Conduct and document 15-minute checks on restrained inmates, assessing security and circulation. A review found staff exceeded the required checks by 4 to 12 minutes on all 19 occasions.
• Maintain detailed records on the use of emergency restraint chairs, including justification, application time, inmate condition, and removal time. These records were missing during the inspection.
• Improve face-to-face inmate observations, which were not properly conducted during an in-custody death.
• Maintain 24-hour jailer presence and ensure inmates are monitored at least once every 60 minutes — or every 30 minutes for high-risk individuals, such as those who are suicidal or mentally ill.
• Provide inmates with at least one hour of supervised physical exercise three days per week, which was not documented for August, September, or October 2024.

Dickson said before the inspection, he had already notified TCJS that a jailer failed to complete a required face-to-face observation during an inmate’s death. He also reported the jailer had been arrested for tampering with a government document.

“At no time will I tolerate lazy employees who fail to do the job they are paid to do,” Dickson said. “And if my employees violate the law, they will be held accountable in accordance with the judicial system of the State of Texas.”