A state audit has found serious shortcomings in how the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) handles inmate complaints and jail inspections—two of its core functions as the agency responsible for overseeing more than 240 local detention facilities across the state.

While the Commission maintained compliant enforcement practices and conducted all required full inspections, auditors flagged its complaint handling as a high-risk failure and called out multiple weaknesses in how inspections were scheduled and tracked.

The audit, conducted by the State Auditor’s Office and covering activity from October 2022 to December 2024, paints a troubling picture of bureaucratic breakdowns that could impact inmate safety and jail accountability.

Complaint System Overwhelmed, Inaccurate, and Incomplete

Auditors rated the agency’s complaint process as “high risk”—the most severe rating short of “priority”—noting that the TCJS failed to follow its own policies for complaint triage, documentation, and communication in a majority of sampled cases.

Of the 62 complaints reviewed, 95% lacked a recorded severity level used to determine urgency. In 46% of cases, there was no evidence the jail was contacted as required, and none of the complainants received the status updates mandated by policy.

In one particularly troubling finding, eight complaints—some submitted more than two years prior—were still listed as “open,” but showed no evidence of ever being investigated.

The Commission acknowledged that complaints surged after jails were required in 2022 to post contact information for filing grievances. But while it cited capacity issues, auditors found that internal mismanagement and database flaws also played a role, including 27 cases with inaccurate complaint data and 10 that were miscategorized as outside the Commission’s jurisdiction.

Five former employees still had access to the complaint database, although there was no evidence of misuse.

In response, TCJS agreed to adopt new automation tools, retrain staff, and improve complaint categorization and security. Implementation is expected by August 1, 2025.

Missed and Misprioritized Inspections Raise Oversight Concerns

While TCJS completed all required comprehensive inspections for jails between 2023 and 2024, auditors found that it failed to conduct required limited inspections in five counties: Bexar, Travis, Tom Green, Andrews, and Navarro.

The agency uses a Priority Assessment Tool to assign inspection frequency based on jail conditions and risk factors like deaths in custody or staff turnover. But auditors found the tool was calculating scores incorrectly for the majority of facilities due to outdated or misconfigured inputs.

As a result, 66 jails should have received more scrutiny than they did, including 10 jails that missed inspections they should have received under the agency’s own guidelines.

The audit also revealed that TCJS lacked a formal process for disclosing conflicts of interest—such as whether inspectors had previously worked at a jail—relying instead on informal knowledge. No conflicts were found in the sample reviewed.

The Commission agreed to revise its conflict-of-interest protocols and enhance the inspection tool’s accuracy by August 1, 2025.

Enforcement: A Bright Spot in an Otherwise Troubled System

Auditors gave the Commission a “low risk” rating on enforcement, finding it followed proper protocols when taking corrective actions against noncompliant jails.

Between January 2023 and December 2024, TCJS issued 149 notices of noncompliance to 105 jails and followed up with technical assistance in most cases. Nearly all of those jails—98 out of 103—were able to resolve their issues by the next inspection.

The agency also fulfilled statutory requirements for re-inspections, including conducting unannounced visits in at least 10% of cases. For jails with repeated problems, the Commission imposed enhanced enforcement, which required additional inspections.

In the most serious cases, the Commission issued seven remedial orders and referred one jail to the Texas Attorney General for assistance.

Oversight of Inmate Deaths Shows Mixed Results

The Commission met deadlines for being notified of inmate deaths and correctly appointed independent agencies to conduct investigations, as required by law.

However, half of the 60 cases reviewed were still pending as of March 2025, including three investigations that had been open for more than two years. The Commission said it lacks the authority to compel law enforcement agencies to complete those investigations in a timely manner.

A Call for Stronger Oversight, Better Data, and Transparent Reform

While TCJS has agreed to all audit recommendations and pledged corrective action, the audit findings raise serious concerns about whether Texas is doing enough to ensure local jails are safe and accountable.

From misclassified complaints to missed inspections and database errors, the problems identified strike at the heart of the Commission’s role as a jail watchdog.

With over 9,700 complaints filed in just two years and nearly 300 inmate deaths, the stakes are high—and the state’s credibility in protecting incarcerated individuals rests on whether these reforms are fully implemented and enforced.

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