RCSO Gets Approval To Seek Accreditation

ROCKWALL, Texas - Feb. 8, 2016 - PRLog -- (ROCKWALL COUNTY, TX).  The Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office will be the first agency in Texas and in the jurisdiction of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to seek accreditation through the National Institute for Jail Operations (NIJO). On January 26, 2016, the Rockwall County Commissioner’s Court approved funding for the accreditation process for the Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center.

For the past several years, Sheriff Harold Eavenson and Detention Command Staff have been pursuing the goal of attaining a nationally recognized accreditation for the Rockwall County Detention Center. Accreditation requires consistency and continual updates to policy, procedure and training. The National Institute of Jail Operations (NIJO) provides legal-based detention guidelines specific to each state to ensure that detention and correctional facilities comply with federal acts and constitutional rights, Supreme Court decisions, applicable Circuit Courts of Appeal rulings and state statutes and codes.  The guidelines address administrative management, staff management, security operations, inmate services, medical care and mental health care operations.

Sheriff Eavenson expressed his support of pursuing NIJO Accreditation.  “Being based on what the law requires, this accreditation process provides a model to follow in the supervision and management of the Rockwall County Detention Center. In addition to the potential for improving the level of supervision and management, we believe it will be an incentive for detention personnel to take pride in being a part of an organization that has achieved national accreditation status.”

The accreditation process is intensive and requires jails to provide proofs of compliance through policies, procedural documentation and culminates with an onsite verification and final report.  There are three levels of accreditation that can be achieved based on the overall compliance rating.  In order to keep the accreditation rating, the jail must maintain and submit proofs of compliance to the standards for a period of three (3) years.

“To stay ahead of the curve, we need to know and comply with current laws governing our jails, proactively finding and resolving potential problems instead of reacting to incidents and litigation as they are filed” stated Tate McCotter, NIJO Executive Director.  “Accreditation benefits the jail staff, the inmates and the entire public.  For most counties, the jail is the largest liability in county government and the process itself becomes a significant risk management and liability defense.”


ABOUT NIJO

The National Institute for Jail Operations (NIJO) was formed as the primary resource dedicated to serve those that operate jails, detention and correctional facilities.  Recognizing the enormous liability an increasing litigation facing administrators, NIJO provides a compilation of legal-based resources and information for agencies to make facilities safer and more secure, proactively defend against frivolous litigation and protect against adverse publicity and liability.