Tarrant sheriff should spend more time fixing jail, less building his national profile
Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn is not one to shy away from publicity.
Whether on Fox News, speaking at the White House, or standing before the cameras with conservative commentator Allen West, Waybourn has spent the last three and half years trying to politicize the sheriff’s office and raise his stardom nationally among conservatives.
But while the sheriff accepts invitations to appear nationally on outlets such as Fox News, he failed to inform the local public or respond to a Star-Telegram reporter’s request for information about how the jail he runs lost state certification this week by not meeting minimum standards.
As the sheriff was at the hospital after West’s motorcycle wreck in Waco, someone being held in Waybourn’s jail died of coronavirus at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.
And while Waybourn stood in front of a White House lectern and demonized immigrants last year, he couldn’t provide basic statistics about inmates in his jail while asking the Tarrant County Commissioners Court to spend taxpayer dollars to renew the county’s voluntary 287(g) immigration program, in which jail deputies perform some federal immigration duties.
Sheriffs’ primary tasks are to run jails and conduct law enforcement duties, such as investigating crime and serving warrants. Unlike police chiefs, sheriffs are accountable directly to the voters for the job they do as elected officials.
My research on sheriffs with Dr. Mirya Holman of Tulane University shows that they are key local policymakers. As politicians with independent authority, there are few checks on sheriffs by other local leaders, leaving it up to the voters’ to assess their job performance.
When a sheriff obscures troubling information about his major duties, he breaks his obligation to the public, leaving the office open to abuses of power.
All evidence indicates that Waybourn is failing to properly run his jail. On April 26, the sheriff’s office reported that an inmate died by suicide. On May 17, a woman who had been imprisoned since January gave birth without anyone noticing.
The jail lost state certification by not conducting the required 30-minute face-to-face observation checks, and Waybourn has not responded to questions nor made this information public. This raises serious questions about his ability to keep people in custody safe.
This is particularly problematic amid the coronavius pandemic, as Waybourn refuses to make common-sense moves. Jails and prisons are hotspots of infection and sheriffs have a responsibility for the welfare of their employees and those they imprison.
At Waybourn’s jail, 41 inmates and 18 jail staffers currently have coronavirus, and one man has already died. Waybourn has not released a public plan for testing or tracing cases to protect those in custody and staff. Despite numerous calls to release nonviolent offenders to lessen the potential for the spread of the disease in jail, Waybourn continues to book offenders for offenses such as possession of marijuana, putting more at dangerous risk to the virus.
Waybourn is up for re-election this fall. My research on sheriffs demonstrates that who you elect as sheriff matters for the policies they pursue. Waybourn should be doing more to explain to voters about how he is fit for another four years at the job given these failures.
Voters should demand answers and better efforts. Or maybe it is time for a new sheriff in town who cares more about the job here in Tarrant County than the national stage.
Editor’s note: Updated Friday morning to reflect Sheriff’s Office update on the date the inmate gave birth and with latest coronavirus case numbers.
This story was originally published May 29, 2020 at 7:05 AM.