Locke calls for a county jail administrator
Harris County Commissioner Gene Locke on Tuesday demanded that a certified jail administrator be hired after learning that four Harris County inmates have died after being assaulted by other inmates or suffered blunt force trauma while jailed over the last year.
The latest of the deaths during the tenure of Sheriff Ron Hickman, who took office in May 2015, came on April 5 after Patrick Joseph Brown, a Katy man arrested by sheriff ’s deputies for allegedly stealing a guitar, was beaten to death in a crowded jail cell. Two inmates have been charged with aggravated assault in his death.
“Any in-custody death is unacceptable, and to hear that four people died while in jail awaiting trial in Harris County is embarrassing and disgraceful,” Locke said in a news release. “The inmates’ families deserve answers, and the people of Harris County are entitled to know that their public servants are safely operating a place of confinement, which is meant to be temporary, and not a death chamber for inmates who have not been given a bond hearing or convicted of the crimes for which they have been accused.”
Hickman responded via an emailed statement that he shares Locke’s concerns about inmate care and said he welcomes “any additional assistance that can be provided to ease and/ or identify problems with staffing.”
“Our position continues to be that we will never tolerate any abuse or improper treatment of any individual under our care or custody and protection of life is always our first priority,” Hickman said. “Many times, we are the first point of access to medical care when individuals who are brought to our facility are found to be ill, needing medical attention, or mental health services.”
Hickman was appointed by the court last May to fill the unexpired term of former Sheriff Adrian Garcia and is seeking re-election in November.
Locke said Hickman should take immediate steps to increase jail staffing and training. Locke is the second member of the commissioners court, the elected body that approves all county expenditures, to openly question Hickman’s operation of the jail.
“The status quo will not continue under my watch,” Locke said.
Locke said he plans to ask Hickman to meet with him to outline the corrective measures and to report those plans to commissioners’ court.
Hickman’s response, emailed by a spokesman, did not address Locke’s demand to hire a jail administrator.
When Brown’s death was reported last month, Hickman said his jail staff is short by several hundred jailers and noted that operations are being continued by ordering jailers to report for mandatory overtime.
Hickman said the county jail is staffed by approximately 1,800 deputy and detention personnel and 337 medical staff who are dedicated to protecting, helping and providing care to all individuals.
“All individuals are treated with the same equal care and attention regardless of social or economic status, and regardless of who is responsible for oversight of the jail, we will