Corrections_Today_Spring_2026_Vol.88_No.1

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Denton County Jail — an 857-bed facility, employing about 200 officers — is largely a pre-trial detention facility housing inmates awaiting trial or sentencing, who, in most cases, eventually will be heading to a state prison. Karena describes the four housing areas: main jail, minimum-security unit, INS unit and the 48-man dormitory-style housing unit, called PODS. It is one of the PODs he primarily worked at and on which he based his observations. After completing 188 hours of correctional training, referred to as “Jail School,” Karena passed his exam to be certified jail officer. The training includes a wide array of topics — cell searches, head counts, CPR, self-defense, investigations, etc. A valuable piece of advice a veteran training staff imparted was the need to understand his role: “We’re not here to play judge, jury, and executioner. We are here to supervise them” (p. 34). He emphasizes the importance of security in a jail setting. He cites examples, such as when a physical altercation occurs between inmates that he was not permitted to get involved in (unless life is in danger) before back-up arrives; or ensuring inmates take their medication pills in the presence of staff to prevent these pills from becoming contraband; inmates taken to the infirmary, then to isolation after a fight; ensuring inmates’ relatives are not allowed

to visit them during a hospital admission in the community for security reasons, etc. Throughout the book, Karena discusses the wide array of staff personalities: characters that tell war stories; some were well educated; some aggressive, etc. The new officers, referred to as “New Boots”, were often the target of pranks by veteran staff (a practice he resented). The “cardinal sin” that staff can commit is to engage in sexual and other inappropriate relationships with inmates. A veteran staff told him: “The biggest problem you’ll have working here won’t be communication with inmates. You will have more difficulty communicating with other officers.” (p. 14). Karena discusses inmates and their sub-culture: gambling, manipulation of staff; the difficulty of dealing with inmates with mental health issues; the depressing time for inmates during holidays; inmates demanding a ranking officer before complying with an order; and the commonly despised inmates, child molesters. Staff are always curious about what an inmate is in for, constantly searching the computer for their crimes. There were inmates who were confidential informants for law enforcement; inmates on suicide watch — every 15 minutes check, etc. The jail also housed female inmates in one of the PODs, but male staff could not

Hey, Bossman! By Jeff Karena, self-published, 2025, 134 pages.

REVIEWED BY Roger Baburam, MPA. Baburam

is a retired Corrections

Program Director at MN Department of Corrections.

H ey, Bossman!” is Jeff Karena’s memoir as a jail detention of ficer for 2 years (2001–2003) at Denton County Jail, Texas. Based on the copious notes he kept, the book delves into the physical description of the facility, operational processing, training experiences, interac tions with inmates and the wide array of personalities of staff and inmates. The memoir is largely observational, with a minimal amount of reflections (albeit insightful ones), of his experi ence as a jail officer for that short period. “

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