Frio jail passes annual inspection

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Facility reopened with 48 beds in November 2021

After receiving the green light to operate the Frio County Jail as a full-time facility last November, the sheriff’s office division passed its first annual state inspection last week.
The detention facility reopened as a fully operational jail with 48 beds in November 2021. Numerous failed inspections had led to the facility’s closure in 2015 by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS).
Martin Arnold, TCJS inspector, made a visit to the facility on Monday, August 8, noting the jail had met the minimum standards set forth by the commission.
“This is a testament to the hard work and dedication put in day and night to ensure that this facility not only meets minimum standards but exceeds them,” the jail administrator wrote in a letter to jail staff.
The inspection highlighted one area, health services, that required follow-up action.
According to the report, the facility did not have a TB Plan on file with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) because the facility had not exceeded 100 inmates in the past year. However, since the facility’s capacity is 171 beds, it does require a plan despite currently having a 48-bed capacity.
The jail administration has been instructed to submit a TB Plan to DSHS within the next 30 days and notify the commission that the form has been submitted.
The Frio County Jail was shut down six years ago by the state commission for failing repeated mandated inspections that called for lower standards to be met in order for the facility to operate as a 72-hour holding facility.