HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – The Harris County Jail was inspected by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards this week.
The unannounced inspection revealed that the jail was in compliance in 21 of the 23 areas of review.
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The weeklong inspection focused on areas including the inmate admission and release process, health services, supervision, discipline, exercise, education, commissary and visitation.
The 9,000-plus inmate facility must earn passing grades in all areas of review in order to be in compliance with state standards.
The two areas of noncompliance were sanitation and food service. Aramark has been operating food services in the jail since September 2017. The food service component of the inspection found that “hot foods were not up to health codes (temperature) prior to the food being distributed to the inmate housing areas.” Regarding sanitation, the inspection revealed that “certain areas of each building were not being kept at an acceptable level of cleanliness.”
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office has 30 days to file a corrective action plan with the state.
“We take the care, custody and control of our inmate population seriously, and our team is committed to bringing the jail back into full compliance in the very near future,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. “We respect the Jail Commission’s findings and will work diligently to correct each issue identified by the inspectors.”
In response to the report, Gonzalez has ordered an internal review to identify causes of the deficiencies and solutions.
There are currently two dozen Texas county jails on the state’s list of noncompliant jails.