AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ Guards in the Texas prison system will be tested to make sure they are fit enough to control inmates.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, with more than 26,000 corrections officers, is requiring employees to pass the fitness test annually.
Testing for academy applicants began in March. The Houston Chronicle reports, as of April 9, 691 people had completed the requirement. All but three passed.
Tougher physical standards were pledged by TDCJ Executive Director Brad Livingston after the Nov. 30 escape of convicted rapist Arcade Joseph Comeaux Jr.
Comeaux, in a wheelchair, disarmed two guards during a move from the Huntsville-area Estelle Unit. He was captured a week later in Houston.
Two inmates who fled from the Briscoe Unit in Dilley on April 6, Jose Bustos-Diaz and Octavio Ramos Lopez, remained at large Monday.