Falls County Non-Compliant Jail Report

Jail Name

Falls County 

Report Date

03/22/2019 

Number of days

47 

Inspector

William T.Pharris 

Original Report

Download Non-Compliant Report

Notes and Summary

 

• Jail staff were unable to open Cell 141 remotely from the control room as required.
• During a review of life safety paperwork, it was determined that staff are not being provided training for emergency situations immediately upon hire as required by minimum jail standards.
• During a review of the VRSS program, it was determined that jail staff are not verifying the status of veterans through the US Department of Veterans Affairs website or similar service as required.
• During a review of inmate housing records, it was determined that prisoners in transit from US Corrections are held in the facility longer than 48 consecutive hours.
• During a review of inmate classification files, it was determined that inmates are not being reassessed within 30-90 days as required by minimum jail standards.
• During a review of inmate housing, it was determined that there were times in which jail staff housed inmates in the library and exceeding the housing capacity of general population cells causing inmates to sleep on the floor.
• During a review of inmate medical files, it was determined that jail staff are not notifying the magistrate on contract out of county and transit inmates.
• During a review of observation logs, it was determined that staff are exceeding the required face-to-face, 30 minute observations in areas where inmates known to be assaultive, potentially suicidal, mentally ill, or who have demonstrated bizarre behavior are confined. Jail staff exceeded the 30 minute requirement by as few as 1 minute up to
  17 minutes on a continual basis.
• During a review of food service paperwork, it was determined that the last annual health inspection was performed on 4/24/2017 which is almost two years past due.
• During a review of food service paperwork, it was determined that the menu has not been reviewed annually as required. The menu was last approved by a dietician on 6/29/2017.
• During a review of inmate disciplinary reports, it was determined that staff are not providing inmates with 24 hours written notice of the charges filed against them as required by minimum jail standards.
• During a review of inmate grievances, it was determined that jail staff are not providing an interim response within 15 days as required by minimum jail standards.
• During a review of inmate recreation logs, it was determined that staff are not offering inmates one hour of supervised physical exercise or physical recreation at least three days per week as required by minimum jail standards.

“Not fit to house a dog!” That’s how the Falls County Jail has been described unofficially by the Jail Commission. On March 12th 2019, we received an anonymous phone call from an employee at the Falls County Jail who expressed deep concern over the conditions of overcrowding and lack of jailer training. We filed a complaint on March 16th and within a week the Jail Commission inspected the facility. This report shows the 14 serious violations including not notifying the magistrate in mental health cases, not verifying veterans status, not conducting mandatory 30 minute face-to-face checks and jailers working without training and licenses.

Violation Types

• Admission - Chapter 265: Admission
• Classification And Separation Of Inmates - Chapter 271: Classification and Separation of Inmates
• Discipline And Grievances - Chapter 283: Discipline and Grievances
• Food Service - Chapter 281: Food Service
• Health Services - Chapter 273: Health Services
• Life Safety Rules
• New Construction Rules
• Recreation And Exercise
• Sanitation
• Supervision Of Inmates - Chapter 275.1

Falls County Non-compliant Jail Reports