Accountability.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The Bexar County Adult Detention Center passed its annual state inspection, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office announced August 26, following an unannounced review by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.
Four state inspectors visited the jail on August 18 and 19 and examined facility operations, maintenance and inmate care. The sheriff’s office described the visit as “a rigorous evaluation” and said the jail received a passing score. The full inspection report was expected to be released within days.
“The men and women of the BCSO who work hard, literally 24/7/365 in the Bexar County Detention Center, deserve a huge amount of credit in yet another passed inspection,” Sheriff Javier Salazar said.
A recent history of failed inspections
The passing grade follows two noncompliance findings in less than a year. State regulators cited the jail in November 2024, and the sheriff’s office regained compliance by January 2025. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards then carried out a surprise inspection on July 22, 2025, one week after a man died by suicide at the facility, and again found it out of compliance.
That inspection found that one inmate held in administrative separation had not received required dayroom access for 22 days of a 97-day stay, along with damaged mirrors and a malfunctioning purge fan. The state ordered a corrective plan, and the sheriff’s office regained compliance on August 19, 2025, after adding a digital logging form and staff training to document the one hour of daily dayroom access state rules require.
Deaths in custody
Eight people died at the jail in 2025. As of late August 2026, seven people had died in the sheriff’s custody this year. The latest inspection came weeks after Bexar County commissioners heard public concerns about deaths and medical care at the facility. A passing inspection reflects compliance with minimum state jail standards and does not by itself address those questions.