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Condition of inmates in Galveston County Jail is questioned

12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, September 18, 2008
By KAREN BROOKS / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]

Reports from the Galveston County Jail, where 1,000 inmates were not allowed to evacuate during Hurricane Ike, are raising concerns of unsanitary conditions and inhumane treatment at the facility.

"They're just sitting there, they're desperate, it's disease waiting to happen," said Shirley Rutledge, a Hardin County resident whose son, an inmate there, told her they haven't been able to bathe or wash their hands because water is in short supply. "This is inhumane treatment for them. ... And now the mayor is saying the city is uninhabitable. So does that mean uninhabitable for everyone except the prisoners?"

Galveston County officials could not be reached by phone on Wednesday.

The situation has caused enough questions and concerns on the part of the family members and the media – who haven't been allowed inside the facility – that the executive director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards plans to travel to Galveston on Friday to check the conditions.

"We haven't heard anything bad going on," said Adan Munoz Jr., the director, who said he's been in contact with jail officials since the storm. "But it's in order to try and just see what's there."

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas is monitoring the situation and taking reports from family members like Ms. Rutledge.

Galveston County Sheriff Gean Leonard said he chose not to evacuate the inmates for security reasons and because the building was built to withstand a Category 4 hurricane.

Ms. Rutledge, however, said her son reports a tinderbox atmosphere inside the jail.

"He told me this afternoon, 'I feel like, in here, that if somebody snaps their fingers, there's going to be a riot,' " Ms. Rutledge said