Texas Jail Closes After Recliners Found In Cells

FORT WORTH, Texas — A jail in northern Texas has been closed and its nearly 60 inmates transferred as authorities investigate what they call dangerous conditions for jailers and those behind bars _ including cells that locked from the inside or contained recliners. Five inmates had already been moved from the Montague County jail to one in a nearby county this month after an FBI raid, said Jack McGaughey, district attorney for Montague, Clay and Archer counties.

McGaughey declined to say what prompted the investigation, also being conducted by the Texas Rangers. But he said authorities found contraband in the jail. New Sheriff Paul Cunningham moved the inmates to the Wise County jail on Thursday a few hours after he was sworn in.

McGaughey said some surveillance cameras' cords had been disconnected; recliners were in cells; some bathrooms and cells could be locked from the inside; and inmates had made partitions out of paper towels to block jailers' views inside their cells. One alarming discovery was a type of rack made of nails, he said.

"This action was taken because there was a concern for the safety of the prisoners and the jail personnel," McGaughey said Friday.

Some inmates had apparently used extension cords to lock deputies out, and unidentified pills were strewn about other jail cells, Dallas-Fort Worth television station WFAA reported.

No one has been arrested, but McGaughey plans to present evidence to a grand jury and said "a number of people" _ inmates as well as jailers _ could be indicted.

The U.S. attorney's office also is working with the FBI and may bring federal charges, McGaughey said. The FBI in Dallas did not immediately return calls seeking comment Friday.

Cunningham told WFAA-TV that the conditions made him "shiver" but said he hopes the jail will reopen in two months, with repairs made and inmates back under a new set of rules.

The jail in Montague County, about 65 miles northwest of Fort Worth, has had problems in the past.

In early 2002, four inmates broke out after overpowering a guard with a homemade knife. The two convicted killers and two murder suspects drove off in the guard's SUV but were caught 10 days later at an Oklahoma convenience store.

The Montague County jail had been put on warning about three months before the escape for falling short of the guard-to-inmate ratio. After the breakout officials made a surprise visit and found the jail still out of compliance.

Comments

[funkulous]

They need to investigate that county jail in Mayberry, too. I've heard they keep the cell door keys hanging on the wall right next to the cell door!

[GeorgiamomforObama]

HA HA YOU ARE TO FUNNY!!

[kennybean]

ROFL!!!

[pokemon]

Small hometown jails are like this, drugs are common place, as is the abuse of the system as a whole. Issue is often that they are run by elected officials which means often someone without any training or education. And for re-election you better be treating people right:)

As a police officer I am always careful in our jail, the prisoners walk around.. heck they were at our city Christmas dinner.

[OrganOfThought]

that aint no small town

tarrant county

[ChiGuy]

This kind of breach of prison protocol doesn't just happen by accident or overnight.

Each and every person in a position of authority, from the top dog right down to the guards should be investigated.

[robXdion]

Because some blogs should have theme music. . . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpzV_0l5ILI

[2008CaliforniaFan]

That's how Dubya likes to roll down there in that state of His.

Thanks... Bushie.

[libslayerguy]

I ha.te that Bush claims Tx. It is not his state. ,He is not a Texan. Not any of his forebearers were born or even lived in Tx. Papa Bush moved to Tx. to get in on the oil business. Laura and the twins were born in Tx., but he's a son of the NE (Conneticut, Massachusetts, Maine).

[wolfgangmo]

I agree. It is unfair to blame any state for the Bushes. They are a virus.

However, if I may suggest, it is more likely that the Bushes are the true sons of Benito Musolini.

[SabrinaFair]

WTF?

[derekc06]

ditto...

[SpaghettyIrish]

Prisons that aren't rehabilitative enough ought to be shuttered as well.

[1differentdrummer]

Well, that's Texas.

[Canuknotusa]

Were they 'electric' recliners?

[JScott]

I was thinkin more along ones that were left at the curb for bulky item pick up/disposa­l....
gawd only knows whatz in there down between the cushions (I don't wanna know).

[karela]

One thing we can be reasonably certain of; the prisoners couldn't have pulled this off without help from the staff. Secondly, the staff is unlikely to have done and allowed all this out of the goodness of their hearts and their deep love for murder suspects and other criminals. A lot of somebodies made money off this arrangement. They didn't need a lot of staff because the prisoners didn't have a deep need to escape. The prisoners would have known that if there had been more escapes it would draw attention and the whole set up would be blown. Hence, the prisoners themselves, as well as the staff, had good reasons for keeping things quiet and they would have policed their own fellow inmates---what with the easy open doors and all. We'll be hearing more about this and it will have a lot to do with illicit money.

[wolfgangmo]

Well. Yes.

[AnnfromCA]

Payoffs, no doubt.

[plages]

Don't you just love Home Land Security's budget!

[thebanana]

I thought Texas electrocuted their inmates? No?

[unclesmedley]

Maybe they can reporpose the joint as an S&M B&B...

[4peace]

We're too quick to lock people up anyway, not everything is the end of the world. tsk tsk tsk you bad little citizens..­.the real criminals reside in congress and the whitehouse.

[derekc06]

these are murderers.­..

according to the article...

[nuclearmonkeys]

yeah lol. these were dangerous guys, not junkies getting arrested for drugs.

[SouthernYankeeBelle]

What do you think Bush was doing in Iraq? He has sent many good soldiers to their deaths and many civilians in Iraq. That country never attacked this country. Its been proofed over and over again. Yep I consider Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld murderers.