CENTER, Texas (KTRE) - A notice from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards shows eight areas where state officials say the Shelby County Jail has dropped the ball. One point is not having proper lighting in cells, the only standard County Judge Allison Harbison says she can fix. The rest is on jail staff. “One item out of compliance is bad, but when you have eight?” Harbison said. The report says as of July 18, the jail doesn’t give out inmate prescriptions like physicians ordered, their inmate observations are late and the kitchen staff doesn’t have food handler licenses. Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Chad Hooper said an increased jail population led to things being overlooked. “When you’re used to having 35 and you go to 63, that’s a huge deal on a facility like ours,” said Hooper. He said due to their average inmate population rising after COVID, with only 15 jailers, they’ve let things slip. “When you have double the inmates, it’s double the work,” said Hooper. The report also says their kitchen is past due for a health inspection by six months, and they can’t prove that inmates receive the amount of recreation time required by law. Hooper said they’re already putting things back together. “We’re reporting to the jail commission every Friday. We’ve also implemented a compliance officer,” said Hooper. This officer will be responsible for making sure state inspection standards are being met. Both Hooper and Harbison will be reporting to TCJS meetings every three months, until standards are met. “I have confidence that we’ll be able to get there,” said Harbison. Harbison said commissioners will discuss the report and possibly request bids to repair jail cell lighting, water and electrical issues at the commissioner’s court meeting on Wednesday.
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Shelby County Jail works to regain state standard compliance
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