Texas has a reputation as the state most willing to implement the death penalty. Yet, thus far in 2025, with the year almost half over, only four people have been executed in Texas.
The death penalty remains controversial, because few prospects are more horrible than having the state take you life. (In communist countries, they’ve done it by the tens of millions.) That’s why our judicial system has an extensive series of checks and balances, derived not only from the Constitution but extending further back into English common law.
But what if I told you that Democrat-run Harris County has let ten people die in their jails this year?
Three inmate deaths within two days have reignited scrutiny of the Harris County Jail, which is chronically overcrowded and understaffed and lacks adequate medical care for inmates, according to state standards.
Sounds like Harris County has a big, big problem. Maybe they should hire more jailers, and build more jails, rather than pursuing socialist pipe dreams like the now-abandoned “Guaranteed Income” scheme. Or any budget line item for “diversity” or “climate change.”
With the latest three fatalities reported between June 23 and 24, 10 inmates have died in custody during the first half of 2025 alone—putting the jail on track to surpass last year’s total.
The Harris County Jail has been out of compliance with state jail standards since 2022.
Persistent overcrowding remains a major concern. Harris County has resorted to outsourcing around 1,500 inmates annually to facilities in Louisiana, Mississippi, and other Texas counties. This practice costs taxpayers nearly $50 million each year.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare previously stated his commitment to lowering the jail population and announced plans to bring outsourced inmates back.
Soros-backed Teare’s “solution” seems to be to keep putting repeat offenders back on the streets so they can continue to victimize citizens. Not ideal.
Critics argue that overseeing outsourced inmates is difficult, with some pointing to the recent death of inmate Erik Carlson, who died shortly after being transferred out of state.
Adding to the crisis is a severe mental health challenge. According to officials, about 80 percent of Harris County Jail inmates suffer from mental health issues, with many prescribed psychiatric medications.
80%? Really? That seems unrealistically high.
Harris County Jail has consistently failed state compliance checks since September 2022, particularly concerning inmate observation and healthcare provision. Staffing shortages continue to impede efforts to meet these basic standards.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo has been in office since January 1, 2019, and these repeat failures fall on her and the Commissioners Court. Heads should roll, and Texas Attorney Ken Paxton should consider suing over the repeated negligence shown by Teare, Hidalgo and Harris County government.
Hire more jailers. Build more jails.
That might not completely solve the problem, but it sure as hell will be a start on solving it…
Tags: Budget, Crime, death penalty, Democrats, Harris County, Joseph Trimmer, Lina Hidalgo, Sean Teare, Texas, Texas Scorecard
Thing is, all the adjoining counties have similar problems. They even closed the Liberty County Jail for a time because the building is considered substandard and unsafe.
The current trend is to ‘farm out’ prisoners to jails in Louisiana. Not kidding here.
I have a modest proposal.
Gov Abbott should put Death Row inmates in the Harris County Jail.
“Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare previously stated his commitment to lowering the jail population and announced plans to bring outsourced inmates back.”
Repatriatiing”outsourced” inmates will not lowered the jail population of Harris County.
Florida recently refurbished an abandoned jetport–Alligator Alley–for the purpose of housing illegal aliens. There are undoubtedly abandoned military bases in Texas that can temporarily be put to similar use as minimum security facilities for the excess jail population of Texas until a more permanent solution can be found.
AFAIK a jail is a place to hold those awaiting arraignment or trial while a prison is where those convicted of felony crimes are held during their sentences. Jails are also places where those convicted of misdemeanors (less than one-year sentence) are held. The Soros types are more focused on getting felons out of prison than dealing with those held for misdemeanors.
Part of the problem a jail faces is constant turnover of the incarcerated. Plus there is a constant intake of those who might have unrecognized physical and mental health problems, who die on you while awaiting a court hearing. (Had George Floyd not checked out during his arrest, he would have checked out shortly after arriving at the jail – becoming a jailhouse death statistic.)
That said, Harris County jail deaths seem excessive, even taking those factors into consideration.
Texas had 869 deaths in custody – all state & local institutions – during 2023 according to BJS ‘Death in Custody Reporting Act’ statistics. Harris County has one sixth of Texas’ population, so their deaths in custody this year do not seem out of line.
[…] UNEXPECTED HEADLINES: Harris County Jails Kill 2.5 Times As Many People As Texas Executes. […]
“Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare previously stated his commitment to lowering the jail population.”
Well, he’s lowered it by 10. I guess that’s a start.
“Repatriatiing”outsourced” inmates will not lowered the jail population of Harris County. ”
Sure it will, but you’re missing a step: Teare has to get them back into Harris County to release them.
Given that jails and prisons are now our de facto mental heath care facilities, the 80% figure does not seem particularly high. And given Harris’ county population, the number of deaths does not seem particularly high either. That there has been a cluster of deaths is a statistical anomaly, not evidence of wrongdoing.
All that said, given the usual problem of Democrat-run big cities, I have no doubt that there are massive self-made problems. That does not mean that mental illness is not a massive problem in jails; it is. In any jail, particularly jails in large urban areas.
[…] how we reported that Harris County jails had already killed ten inmates this year? Well, you can add another one. […]