Jailers mix up inmates, send wrong woman to mental health facility, Texas sheriff says

A jail in Texas sent the wrong inmate to a facility for mentally ill offenders that treats people for diagnoses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Jailers didn’t realize their mistake until the next day, officials said.

The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said an inmate named Amanda Garcia was sent to the county’s mentally impaired offender facility on Aug. 30, according to an email to McClatchy news group.

The next day, the employees at the San Antonio jail realized they had sent the wrong woman of the same name to the jail, officials said. After realizing the error, the employees told the Sheriff’s Office administration, officials said.

The Sheriff’s Office notified the mental health facility of the mistake about 1 p.m. About 5 p.m., the correct inmate was sent to the facility while the other inmate returned to jail, officials said.

“(Bexar County Sheriff’s Office) Internal Affairs has initiated an administrative investigation into this incident, while disciplinary action for the staff who were involved in this incident is forthcoming,” officials said in the email.

Additionally, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards was notified of the error, officials said.

This isn’t the first time the jail has improperly released inmates this year.

An inmate was released before making required arrangements for health services as part of a jail diversion program, according to WOAI. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar “took it upon himself” to track down and arrest the man, the San Antonio TV station reported.

In July, an inmate was improperly freed from the jail because a San Antonio police officer didn’t notify the jail of the suspect’s parole violation, according to the San Antonio Express News. Officials said the officer didn’t realize the suspect had active arrest warrants because he entered the incorrect birth date into his computer, according to the newspaper.

In January, an inmate was let go without the a GPS monitoring system that was required as part of his conditions for release, according to KENS. The interim jail administrator at the time was suspended “presumably as a result of this incident,” the San Antonio TV station reported.

This story was originally published September 9, 2019 at 1:33 PM with the headline "Jailers mix up inmates, send wrong woman to mental health facility, Texas sheriff says."