Abbott suspends in-person visits at Texas jails to contain spread of coronavirus

Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order Friday afternoon suspending in-person visitation at all county and municipal jails in Texas in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The order still allows inmates to meet with their attorneys or religious leaders.

“Jails have shown to be highly susceptible to COVID-19 surges which is why we are focused on containing any potential hot spots and preventing spread both within jails and the community,” Abbott said in a written statement. “I encourage jails to utilize virtual visitation strategies to allow for visitations in a way that protects both staff and the inmate population.”

According to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards’ latest data, updated Thursday, 610 inmates and 218 employees at jails across Texas have active cases of COVID-19.

An additional 1,363 inmates are awaiting test results, while 4,402 have been quarantined or isolated because of potential exposure to the virus. The commission says 642 jailers are quarantined pending test results.

Four jail inmates have died from the coronavirus.

The Dallas County jail has had 333 total cases of COVID-19 among inmates, more than 4% of the county’s total, according to county statistics released Tuesday.

A lawsuit filed Thursday in a Dallas County court seeks the release of inmates at the jail who are especially vulnerable to the disease, arguing that they cannot maintain safe distances from one another and do not have adequate access to supplies including soap and masks. About 1,800 of the 5,000 or so inmates at the jail have underlying health conditions, the lawsuit says.

A separate lawsuit seeking the release of Dallas County inmates has been filed in federal court; a judge denied the release of those inmates last month.