Travis County Jailer Arrested For Not Checking On Inmates

TRAVIS COUNTY, TX — A Travis County corrections officer has been arrested for failure to visually check on inmates to ensure their safety and then allegedly falsifying records in his logbook to reflect he had done so, officials said on Saturday.

Carlos Luna, 21, has been charged with tampering with a governmental record — a Class A misdemeanor. According to the Travis County Sheriff's Office, a supervisor reviewing surveillance camera footage in Building 12 of the county jail in Del Valle noticed Luna did not appear to be conducting so-called post-visual checks on inmates for the times he recorded in a logbook.

A subsequent investigation revealed that,during the week of June 10-16, Luna logged 49 post visual checks with video evidence showing he did not perform 34 of those. According to officials, Luna admitted he had been falsifying post visual logs for the last one to two months. He acknowledged the transgression even while recognizing the high importance of the checks to ensure inmates’ safety and health, sheriff's officials said.

Luna — who's been employed with the Travis County Sheriff's Office since July 16, 2017 — was reassigned to a position that did not require inmate supervision during the course of the investigation, officials noted. His case is currently under review for administrative or disciplinary action, officials added.