In 2012, a 29-year-old who had been in the jail for a week used bed sheets to hang himself from an air conditioning vent in the ceiling.

Last year, another inmate locked a jailer who came to retrieve a food tray inside his cell and then slipped out the jail’s unsecured lobby door.

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards has found the Waller County Jail — the 110-bed lockup where 28-year-old Sandra Bland was found hanging from a plastic bag July 13 — out of compliance with state jail regulations at least five times since 2009, a figure that doesn’t include the 2008 escape, which was the subject of news reports. The violations include minor technical issues, such as missing documentation showing that the jail’s menu met dietary standards.

But others were major red flags that experts say could indicate lax security protocols and ineffective management. After the 2012 suicide, the jail was cited for the same violation that occurred when Bland died: failure to regularly observe the inmate.

Read the rest of this article at The Ames Tribune.