inmates

Last year was the deadliest year in ICE detention in two decades. Nearly a quarter of those deaths occurred in Texas.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in an opinion the Texas Commission on Jail Standards has the authority to hire an independent investigator to look into all custody deaths. The opinion is in response to a letter sent by Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells last year.

As a part of a yearlong study, Texas county jails are collecting data about pregnant inmates' prenatal care, mental health indicators, pregnancy outcomes and more.

A new comprehensive analysis of state data shows Texas prisons get so hot in summer that temperatures there would routinely violate state standards for other types of lockups. The state will be back in federal court to defend the conditions behind bars.

Wyandotte County Deputy Richard Fatherley is free while he awaits trial in the July 5 death of Charles Adair, who prosecutors say was killed when Fatherly knelt on his back. Fatherley, who faced his first hearing Tuesday, wasn’t required to appear in court in person, which the judge said was standard early in the judicial process when substantive issues aren't heard.

Tremane Wood was found unresponsive in his cell hours after he was scheduled to be executed. State officials say he had a "medical event" as a result of stress and dehydration.

Months after a deal to end a class-action lawsuit over treatment for people with severe mental illness, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health still can't provide an accurate count of how many people are waiting in jail for treatment and for how long, consultants found.

Last month, the Kansas Department of Corrections suddenly canceled subscriptions purchased by outside parties for those in state custody. The move confounded newspaper publishers and concerned press freedom advocates.

The death of Charles Adair, 50, which has been ruled a homicide, was due to a common police procedure called prone restraint. "This is in the hands of the law officers," a medical expert said.

Families of incarcerated people in Kansas were long able to take out a newspaper subscription in a person's name and have it delivered to a state facility. The Kansas Department of Corrections changed that policy without notice, claiming safety concerns but causing confusion.