The person in charge of day-to-day operations at the Tarrant County Jail has resigned, capping a tumultuous six weeks for the jail that saw three deaths in custody.
Tarrant County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) spokesman Robbie Hoy wrote in an email that Deputy Charles Eckert “retired with great honor.” He has been running the jail since December 2020, but has been with TCSO for 32 years, he told KERA in a March interview.
“He was just awarded Texas Executive of the Year and has had many other positive accomplishments during his tenure. We will miss him and wish him the best in his retirement,” Hoy wrote.
Eckert told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. His retirement has nothing to do with the recent deaths in the prison.
In April, an inmate named Anthony Johnson Jr. died after a prison guard put his knee on his back while he was restrained on the ground. Johnson's family has demanded for weeks that details be revealed about what happened to him. Citizens and County Commissioner Alisa Simmons have called for Sheriff Bill Wayborn's resignation.
Simmons told KERA Wednesday night that TCSO needs a change in leadership from the top to the bottom.
“When it comes time to elect a sheriff in November, the voters will decide that,” she said.
Simmons said Eckert's resignation was an opportunity to provide “innovative, progressive” leadership to prevent deaths.
“People shouldn't be coming into prison and dying so often,” she said.
Hoy's statement did not mention Simons but did address Eckert's anonymous critics.
“Anyone who speaks negatively about Chief Eckert's performance is clearly misinformed or divisive,” he wrote.
More than 60 people have died in the county jail since Wayborn took office in 2017. Wayborn blames the spike in deaths on drugs and poor health conditions for people entering the jail.
Earlier this week, a former corrections officer pleaded guilty to lying about checking on an inmate who later died, and the county has paid $2.8 million in settlements in recent years in lawsuits over deaths, misconduct and negligence at the jail.
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