The vacant position has been filled amidst a spike in deaths at the jail over the last few years.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Amid calls for transparency after a spike in jail deaths, the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office has hired someone to fill the executive jail administrator position.
Shannon Herklotz has been hired as the jail’s new executive chief of detention, a role previously vacant, TCSO announced Monday.
“Shannon brings more than three decades of detention experience to TCSO and we are lucky to have him,” Tarrant Sheriff Bill Waybourn said in a statement.
Before joining TCSO, Herklotz served as chief deputy over the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office’s detention bureau and as the chief of detentions for the Harris County Jail. He also has experience as deputy director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. He graduated from Sam Houston State University’s National Jail Leadership Command Academy.
Herklotz’s last day as Dallas’ chief deputy of detention services was Dec. 17.
At the jail, TCSO says Herklotz will work to strengthen the jail’s collaboration with John Peter Smith Hospital and mental health providers at My Health My Resources Tarrant County.
TCSO says the jail has met or exceeded standards, passing inspections for more than 30 years. Some are bothered by the number of deaths at the jail though. In 2024, eight inmates died in custody at the jail. Since 2017, more than 65 inmates have died while being held in custody there.
Inmate deaths in Tarrant County have exceeded the national average in each of the last four years, according to National Institutes of Health data. In the last year, Tarrant County has spent more than $2 million to settle lawsuits related to the jail. Commissioners approved a record-breaking settlement in May.