The Texas Civil Rights Project has issued a press release making what could be one of the most serious allegations as Hurricane Ike heads towards the coast: “Galveston County Sherriff Gean Leonard is reportedly refusing to evacuate 300 guards and 1,000 inmates in the county jail.” The group then goes on to demand immediate evacuation, since the area is under an emergency evacuation order anyway,

As the press release notes, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice started evacuating prisoners from its facilities in Ike’s path on Tuesday. But if, as the National Weather Service predicts, the storm surge could bring “certain death,” this could raise the specter of the prisoners left in Orleans Parish Prison during Hurricane Katrina.

UPDATE 9/13/2008, 3.10pm: The fabulous Grits for Breakfast blog is keeping a stellar eye on this evolving story, which seems to have boiled down to two basic facts. One, that the inmates (most of whom were on remand, not convicted, not that it should really matter in this context) and a skeleton staff of sherriff’s deputies were left there; and two, that their health and well-being still seems unclear.

This article appears in September 12 • 2008.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.