Potter County's Jail Fails Inspection

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards paid a visit to Potter and Randall counties last week. Randall county was found to be in compliance with state jail standards, but Potter county failed its inspection.

Potter county has been having a problem with overcrowding for several months, so it comes as no surprise that overcrowding was one of the problems cited by the commission. This is a problem that must be dealt with by county commissioners, and is really beyond the Sheriff's control. Even shipping inmates to other counties would require extra funds that would have to be approved by the commissioners.

But that wasn't the only problem the inspectors found at the Potter County Detention Center. The inspection also cited the jail for poor maintenance and a lack of proper training of officers. The jail officers aren't receiving the required training in safety procedures.

These last two areas are a bit more troubling, because they tend to show a lack of proper leadership at the Potter County Sheriff's Department. The sheriff may need county help to deal with overcrowding, but proper maintenance and training of jail officers are entirely his responsibility.

The county and the department now have 30 days to respond to the jail commission about how they are going to remedy the three problem areas. Once the remedies are in place, then they must tell the jail commission they are ready for a re-inspection.

Randall county Sheriff's Office Captain Debbie Unruh (who is in charge of the jail) said, "I think we try to keep our facility where if they walked in at any time we would certify. We try to maintain the same standards 365 days a year."

It would be well for Potter county's sheriff to adopt that same attitude. There is no reason Potter county's jail can't be run just as well as the one in its neighboring county to the south.