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: Grits for Breakfast

Sheriffs' use of jail labor ripe for statewide investigation, legislative fix

By Gritsforbreakfast

A pair of recent headlines make me think a statewide audit could be in order regarding how Texas county jails use inmate labor.First, in my hometown of Tyler, Lt. Gary Lile, a former Winnsboro police chief and administrator at the Smith County Jail's low-risk facility, apparently committed suicide after the Texas Rangers launched an investigation into allegations that deputies used inmate labor for personal gain, including gathering scrap metal for resale. Three other deputies may still face felony charges, and more deputies may be implicated, the Tyler Morning Telegraph has reported.Then over the weekend, the Austin Statesman ran a feature providing details of the Bastrop County Sheriff's final conviction, in this case for turning a blind eye toward gambling operations and "using county inmates and materials to operate his own custom barbecue pit building business...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on April 02, 2008 (boomark / email).