TPI’s audit comment reports include abbreviated reports for facilities where TPI has few or no reports of violence, but audit report review still indicates issues that should have resulted in either the audit report not being considered final, or a corrective action negotiated between the auditor and facility.
TPI has developed a simple auditor tool for auditors to see current information about any unit that we have in our system to help give them a heads up about any problems we see, but as far as we know, no auditor to date has used this tool.
Content warning: Some of these letters describe threats and incidents of violence that may be disturbing. We will note whether each letter is considered a low, moderate, or high risk for being disturbing. We consider this letter to be low risk.
The following letter report is TPI’s report of deficiencies we were able to identify with the 2024 audit of TDCJ Hamilton Unit. The audit report can be accessed here. Some noteworthy points include:
- The auditor failed to conduct the minimum required 20 targeted interviews.
- PREA § 115.21: Due to the information in this audit report that only 1 of 7 persons reporting sexual abuse were afforded a forensic medical exam, and because no explanation to justify the near absence of such exams, it cannot be determined whether or not Hamilton Unit is compliant with this standard.
- PREA §§ 115.43 and 115.68: Due to the fact that the auditor failed to understand how PREA protective custody applies to housing in Pack Unit, and the fact that Pack Unit staff manipulated facts concerning how housing at the unit meets the protective custody definition, Pack Unit cannot be considered to be compliant with this standard.