HOUSTON – A Harris County detention officer is off the job and facing drug charges.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office says Dominique Duncan was arrested just outside the downtown jail complex on Monday. Deputies say a task force, charged with investigating possible wrongdoings within its own operation, found Duncan in possession of prescription painkillers. Investigators say he had intended on distributing the pills at the jail.
Duncan appeared before a judge, who read, "Duncan agreed to introduce 93 hydrocodone tablets weighing 36.8 grams into the Harris County Sheriff's Office Jail facility located at 1200 Baker Street and deliver them to an inmate."
Duncan, 23, is charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. After the arrest, he was housed as an inmate in the same jail system in which he worked. He posted a $10,000 bond.
"Almost all of the hundreds of detention officers and deputies who secure the Harris County jail system and guard inmates follow the rules and obey the law," Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia said. "But as a law enforcement agency, we also enforce the law against our own employees in the rare cases when they commit crimes. In the process, we build and maintain public confidence in our crucial operations."
Duncan became a Harris County Sheriff's Office civilian detention officer in May 2013.