Internal jail fence breach prompts Travis County Sheriff's Office probe
AUSTIN (KXAN) – Travis County Sheriff's Office internal affairs is investigating how an inmate slipped beneath an interior fence on May 15 and entered an unauthorized area within the Travis County Correctional Complex.
The Sheriff's Office confirmed the event to KXAN, saying the man managed to shimmy under a chain-link fence in an internal mall area and made it about 50 feet before officers gained control of him. Internal affairs will be looking into the matter and possible policy violations that preceded it, according to the office.
'This was not an escape. He never made it out of our facility – out of the perimeter,' said Sheriff's Office spokesperson Kristen Dark.
The sheriff's office said the man could face disciplinary measures, such as loss of privileges or change in housing. The Travis County Correctional Complex is located just east of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Travis County gets $1.6M to combat overdose deaths tied to county jail
The breach occurred one day before a major jailbreak in neighboring Louisiana where 10 inmates escaped the Orleans Parish Justice Center in New Orleans. As of Thursday, half were captured and the other five remained at large, according to news reports.
In Texas, jails are required to report escapes from custody to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards within 24 hours, according to TCJS policies and procedures. The Travis County incident was not considered an escape reportable to the state.
'There is no statutory requirement to report attempted escapes to this agency, just the actual escapes,' TCJS told KXAN by email.
So far in 2025 there have been six reported jail escapes in Texas, according to TCJS data obtained by KXAN through the Texas Public Information Act. Below is a breakdown of counties where the jail escapes occurred
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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