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The executive director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards is facing felony charges after angering a South Texas sheriff by releasing information about an inmate who committed suicide, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Adan Munoz Jr. released a jail screening form – designed to identify potentially suicidal prisoners – while an investigation into the February death of Samuel Salazar was still open. Nueces County Sheriff Jim Kaelin says the release was a violation of his department's policy.

The Austin American-Statesman reported that Kaelin complained to the jail standards agency's board. After Munoz was cleared, Kaelin sought to have him charged with two felony counts of misuse of official information, a crime that typically pertains to public servants who use insider government information to benefit themselves, friends or supporters.

Munoz, 62, was indicted Aug. 20.

He declined to comment. His attorney, Rene Rodriguez, said the sheriff is retaliating against Munoz after a commission inspector found problems at the Nueces County Jail.

Rodriguez has asked a state district court to throw out the charges and, in a separate pleading seeking to keep Munoz out of jail, accused Kaelin of unethical behavior by acting as both the victim in the case and the investigator pursuing charges against Munoz.

Kaelin's "actions and false accusations leading to an indictment in this matter border on mental instability, irrational behavior and unmitigated vindictiveness," Rodriguez told the court.

Kaelin didn't return phone calls seeking comment. The sheriff previously told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times that the inmate's document was improperly publicized because it contained sensitive medical information and pertained to an ongoing criminal investigation.

"That form wasn't theirs to release. It was ours," Kaelin told the newspaper.

CONUS TOC SOURCE