Grayson County TXGenWeb

Grayson County Jail
1936 - 1976

The new jail was built on the fifth floor of the new courthouse and both facilities were opened in 1936. The new jail was described as "clean, well-lighted and well- ventilated cells, equipped with the latest prison safety devices. Some of the old cells from the 1887 jail were transferred to the new facility to house "less dangerous prisoners." Some of the modern conveniences of the jail were speaking tubes, bullet proof glass in cell doors and an automatic locking system. The elevator opened in the Sheriff's office, where a "holdover" cell was located and in the basement, on the 3rd floor of the courthouse where the court rooms were located and in the District Attorney's office on the fourth floor.

Forty years later, in 1976, this jail facility was again critized for being dilapidated, having unsanitary conditions, and its lack of facilities and failure to keep up with the trend in jail and prion improvements. The jail did not have padded cells as required by law for mentally ill inmates. There was only a single one-man cell in the 1936 jail instead of the 30% of the cells being one-man cells. The Texas Department of Corrections reported that plumbing and lighting need improvements as well as the cells and dayrooms not meeting the legal requirement of at least 18 square feet per prisoner. The juveniles were not properly separated from the adult prisoners.

The dayrooms were used by the prisoners most of the time during daylight hours for playing dominoes, card games, reading or watching one of the four televisions sets. The facility had a small "library', consisting of a shelf with approximately 100 paperback books and magazines on it. The cells were sparsely furnished with a thin mattress and blanket on iron bunks, no sheets, a comode and small lavatory with very little privacy. The improvements needed were estimated to cost the same amount as it cost to build a complete jail in 1887 - $100,000.

"County Jails Date to 1887". Sherman Democrat, July 4, 1976. Section B, pg. 6