Jail reform advocate spoke to local commissioners

SMITH COUNTY — A jail reform advocate demands improved care for inmates at an East Texas jail. At their meeting Tuesday in Tyler, the Smith County Commissioners Court heard from a member of the Texas Jail Project, Dalila Reynoso, who called for greater mental-health resources at the Smith County Jail. She was responding to the recent hanging death of an inmate, Nathan Lee Johns. A sheriff’s office statement said that Johns hanged himself with an electrical cord he concealed from guards after he took it from an inmate phone box.  Reynoso says the death should have been prevented. The Texas Rangers are investigating the hanging.