Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez grilled about jail deaths after appearance before state commission
At least 12 people have died in the Harris County Jail this year, including Alexis Cardenas, a 32-year-old man who recently died during a struggle with officers who were escorting him to the exit door. His sister was among those to question Gonzalez after Thursday's meeting in Austin.
Three Harris County Jail inmates die within 48-hour span, marking 10 in-custody deaths in 2025
The string of deaths comes weeks after the sheriff’s office reported that a 26-year-old inmate was pronounced dead after allegedly smoking a substance and losing consciousness.
State audit finds major lapses in Texas jail oversight system
The oversight agency missed key inspections and left prisoner complaints unresolved.
Polk County Jail begins outsourcing inmates after failing to meet state staffing standards
The county has failed to comply with Texas' mandated ratio of one detention officer for every 48 inmates, Sheriff Byron Lyons wrote in a news release Wednesday.
Liberty County Jail shuttered by state jail commission, prompting hundreds of relocations
The jail in the county northeast of Houston has been out of compliance with the minimum standards of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards for years. The closure comes just days after a fire was ignited by a lighting issue in the jail, officials said.
23-year-old Harris County Jail inmate dies awaiting drug treatment facility transfer
Persistent understaffing and other issues have led to a string of failed state safety inspections at the Harris County Jail. Last month, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards requested the Attorney General intervene to keep the jail in compliance with minimum state jail standards.
Harris County Jail fails safety inspection after prisoner death related to lapse in observations
State safety inspectors found that "face-to-face observations had not been conducted as required" in connection to a recent in-custody death at the downtown Houston jail.
Harris County Jail officials didn’t search inmate’s wheelchair containing handgun, state report says
According to the report, state inspectors reviewed security footage and found that the personal wheelchair "had not been searched for contraband upon entry."
The Harris County Jail passed a recent safety review with ‘technical assistance’ from state inspectors
Since September 2022, the jail has repeated failed safety inspections conducted by the state due to understaffing and medical neglect, among other issues.
Harris County Jail fails yet another safety inspection due to continued understaffing
For more than a year now, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards has deemed the Harris County Jail noncompliant with the state's safety standards.
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