Tarrant commissioners grill sheriff on why they weren’t notified about jail problems
When Tarrant County commissioners Roy Brooks and Devan Allen learned that the jail lost state certification for six days last month — or that a woman gave birth alone in her jail cell — it wasn’t because Sheriff Bill Waybourn told them.
“We shouldn’t have to read about that in the newspaper,” Brooks told the sheriff on Tuesday afternoon.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram first learned about the jail’s temporary loss of certification on May 27, the day it was reinstated. The certification was revoked on May 21.
Brooks and Allen pressed Waybourn about his lack of communication during the Commissioners Court meeting Tuesday afternoon.
“I’m particularly concerned that last week you came before us and shared an update regarding the gentleman who lost his life to COVID and was an inmate … but there was no mention of this lapse of certification or the issues that precipitated it,” Allen said.
“Just wasn’t on my agenda at that moment,” Waybourn said, adding that he alerted Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley and County Administrator G.K. Maenius about the revoked certification.
“If you’re thinking we were trying to hide it or get away with it, that’s not it,” the sheriff said.
Allen asked Waybourn what assurances he could give that there were no other unreported events happening at the jail. But Whitley interrupted, saying that historically, a sheriff wouldn’t call each commissioner after notifying the county judge and administrator about something.
“I apologize for any part that I played in that,” Whitley said.
The sheriff didn’t answer the question, but later said he understands the need for better communication.
The commissioners didn’t ask the sheriff about why an inmate gave birth alone in her jail cell on May 17 without anyone knowing — but it was another event they said they weren’t told about.
The jail lost certification after the Texas Commission on Jail Standards found that an inmate check was missed. The inmate had died in the jail by suicide in April. The certification was reinstated after the jail sent the state a Plan of Action for how they would correct the violations.
When the Star-Telegram asked what was in the Plan of Action and what is being done to make sure inmates are getting 30-minute checks, a spokeswoman said, “Our jail is back in compliance and certified according to Mr. Wood at Texas Commission on Jail Standards.”
Waybourn said the commission assured him the plan was good and that he’s been told by the commission that Tarrant County has the “cleanest and best run jail in Texas.”
The last time the jail was out of compliance was in 2015 for 24 days, the sheriff said.
Commission Executive Director Brandon Wood did not return a call for comment on Tuesday.
