Roll of Honor
Ruben Martinez
Incident
Corrections Officer IV Ruben Martinez died after contracting COVID-19 during an outbreak among staff and inmates at the Lopez State Jail.
Officer Martinez had served with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for two years.
COVID-19 and Law Enforcement
Corrections Officer IV Ruben Martinez died on July 23, 2020 of COVID-19 contracted in the line of duty. He was 48.
He is one of 884 officers honored here, and one of 55 at Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division.
Beginning in early 2020, law enforcement officers across the country contracted COVID-19 in the course of their duties. While much of the nation sheltered at home, they kept answering calls, making arrests, transporting prisoners, and working face to face with the public. There was no distance to be had from the job.
Corrections officers were hit hardest. Confined facilities and large populations meant constant, close, unavoidable exposure.
Survivors
He is survived by his three children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-TX-8EB03BAC- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
The country locked its doors. You kept working.
Corrections Officer IV Martinez gave the Texas Department of Criminal Justice 2 years.
Thank you for your service to the Huntsville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Corrections Officer IV Martinez.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Corrections Officer IV Ruben Martinez is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In TX, 204 of 2,421 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 8.4% of this state's fallen. That is 0.7 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
At Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division, 55 of 124 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 44.4% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Ruben Martinez's cause is highlighted.
How Ruben Martinez Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Ruben Martinez is highlighted in Jul.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
123 officers from Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
