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Dallas County officials said Friday that most of the staffing and maintenance problems noted in the latest failed jail inspection can be fixed relatively quickly.
But they couldn't hide their disappointment, after spending millions of dollars and years improving the jail system, that the state deemed it unacceptable for a seventh straight time.
Of particular concern: required repairs to fire safety systems in the county's most-populous jail tower that could require significant time and money and extensive plumbing problems in the new south jail tower – even though the $65 million facility just opened about a week ago.
"It's hard to understand how some of those things could have been missed," Shannon Brown, the interim Commissioners Court administrator, said about the new jail building.
Inspectors with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards briefed county commissioners Friday morning about the results of their four-day evaluation of the four jails now operating.
They detailed broken toilets, dirty and "severely clogged" air vents, remote-controlled doors that wouldn't open or close properly, broken intercoms, slow response to fire drills, inadequate smoke detection and removal systems, inadequate staffing, improper mixing of high- and low-security inmates and numerous plumbing problems.
The county jail system – the nation's seventh-largest – hasn't passed a state inspection since 2003. In addition, the jails remain under a federal court order to improve medical and mental health care, sanitation and fire safety systems.
Sheriff Lupe Valdez, who hasn't been able to announce a passed inspection since taking office in 2005, said her department will quickly correct problems as they arise.
"It is important to note that our staff continues to work tirelessly each and every day to provide the best service to the community," she said. "We accept responsibility for areas that we can improve upon."
If violations are serious enough, the state jail commission can shut down the facility, forcing the county to spend millions of dollars to send its prisoners elsewhere. Commissioners haven't imposed that punishment on Dallas County's jails, despite the consistently poor marks in recent years.
The federal government could take similar action if the county does not comply with court-ordered improvements.
And the Legislature is also considering changes to jail reviews that could include a "risk assessment" determined by failed inspections, staffing levels and other factors. Under one proposed bill, assessments would help dictate jail inspection schedules.
Commissioner John Wiley Price, who has been coordinating jail improvements inside and outside the jails for the last 30 months, appeared dejected during the presentation.
"It's real disheartening," he told the state inspectors afterward.
The improper mixing of maximum-security inmates with lower-risk inmates in the west tower medical areas and in courtroom holding cells was a newly discovered problem this year, though the commission found no instances where inmates were harmed as a result.
The inmates can be housed together in courtroom cells only if a bailiff is present, which wasn't the case during the inspection, said Shannon Herklotz, the jail commission's assistant director.
"So the simple solution there is to make sure the officer stays where he's supposed to be," he said.
The Sheriff's Department, which is in charge of separating inmates based on danger or risk, disputed whether the mixing of inmates violated a specific state standard.
After the meeting, Price said he was unhappy with the county maintenance department that is responsible for fixing items flagged by the Sheriff's Department. One dirty air vent, for example, was painted over, reducing airflow. Price hinted that some major changes are in store for that department.
Price also was angry over the plumbing problems in the new south tower, including low water pressure, no water, no hot water and broken toilets. In one cell, only three of eight toilets worked properly.
The 2,300-bed jail, the county's first new jail in 15 years, was supposed to be completed in late 2008, but repeated problems delayed the opening until this month. The contractors, Price said, were supposed to deliver a building that was fully operational and ready to house inmates.
Herklotz told county commissioners he was pleased with the jails' increased cleanliness. He also noted other improvements, such as fewer inmate complaints and better training documentation.
"We appreciate all your efforts. I know you're trying. But these issues we just could not overlook," he said.
One of the more serious and unexpected problems this year involved the north tower jail's fire safety system, which couldn't detect or remove smoke fast enough. In addition, when inspectors released smoke into inmate housing areas, it flowed into other areas. Roughly 3,400 inmates are housed in the north tower.
Inadequate smoke detection and removal systems have plagued some of the older jail buildings since 2004, requiring commissioners to spend millions of dollars over several years to retrofit them.
But the north tower, one of the newer jail towers, hasn't had such problems in the past.
Price said internal smoke tests done over the weekend showed that the north tower jail's fire safety system was detecting smoke within a minute and removing it within 15 minutes, as required.
Herklotz also said guards in the north tower didn't respond to fire drills fast enough with breathing devices and extinguishers. He called the response time "unacceptable, given the number of life safety issues."
All jails except the new one didn't always meet the required minimum staffing ratio of one guard for every 48 inmates, a nagging problem for the county.
Price said the sheriff has to manage her staff better and fill holes when guards have to leave the floor to handle transport or visitation. Commissioners have given Valdez more than 400 new guard positions since 2005.
He also noted that the jail population has been consistently low – under 6,000, down from more than 7,000 inmates several years ago.
Price told the jail commissioners that the court has appropriated about $172 million to improve the jails in recent years and said no other area of county government gets more attention.
The county will have 30 days to submit a written response regarding the problems. And when the jail commission holds a regular meeting in May, Dallas County officials will be expected to appear with an update.
Staff writer Christy Hoppe in Austin contributed to this report.
Dallas County's jail system failed its state inspection this week for the seventh time in a row. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards detailed problems in these categories:
FIRE SAFETY
•Smoke was not detected in the north jail tower within a minute and not removed within 15 minutes, as required. Smoke flowed into other areas of the jail.
•When inspectors set off a fire detector in the south tower, a fire control panel indicated that it occurred in a different housing area. As a result, guards responded to the wrong area.
•Guards took too long – nearly five minutes – to respond to fire drills with the proper gear in the north tower.
MAINTENANCE
•When inspectors pushed two north tower intercoms at the same time to speak, the system allowed only one of them to answer.
•Air vents in the north tower were clogged with dust, dirt, toilet paper and other debris, which could hamper the smoke-removal system.
•The west and south towers had numerous plumbing issues such as toilets that didn't flush, no water, no hot water and low water pressure.
•Several remote-controlled doors in the north tower didn't open or close properly, creating potential safety problems in the event of a fire.
STAFFING
•The minimum staffing ratio of one guard for every 48 inmates was not maintained at all times in the north and west towers, as well as in the George Allen and Suzanne Kays jails.
INMATE CLASSIFICATION
•High-security inmates were not housed separately from lower risk inmates in west tower medical areas, as required.
•High-security inmates were housed with lower-risk inmates in courtroom holding areas without a guard present.
•Female inmates were housed close enough to male inmates in courtroom holding areas that they could see and speak with each other.
SOURCE: Texas Commission on Jail Standards