US EditionMost Texas Prisoners Don’t Have AC Access and It’s Unclear when They Will Get It
TEXAS, JUL 17 – Two thirds of Texas prisoners lack air conditioning as installation faces design and funding challenges; only about 35% of beds are cooled, with progress expected over decades, officials say.
- Approximately 88,000 incarcerated people, or two-thirds of Texas prisons’ population, lack air conditioning amid ongoing triple-digit heat in 2025.
- This persists because TDCJ has not set a definitive timeline and lawmakers again declined legislation mandating climate control installation deadlines.
- TDCJ accelerated installation, completing 6,700 cooled beds between 2022 and 2023 after building fewer than 1,000 annually from 2018 to 2021, backed by over $200 million in state funding.
- However, Facilities Director Ronald Hudson testified in 2024 that the agency never formally bid out costs, and advocates called progress “minuscule” despite roughly 3,000 beds completed using 2023 funds.
- In a March 2024 ruling, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman noted that, at the current pace, it could require up to 25 years to fully equip Texas prisons with air conditioning, with meaningful progress depending on a jury trial scheduled for March 2026 and the allocation of substantial legislative funding.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Texas prisons are still sweltering without AC and no clear fix in sight
Despite millions in funding, Texas prisons remain dangerously hot as officials dodge accountability on cooling timelines.Hayden Betts reports for The Texas Tribune.In short:Around 88,000 incarcerated people in Texas — two-thirds of the prison population — remain in facilities without air conditioning as triple-digit heat continues.Although the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has received over $200 million in state funds to install AC…
Most Texas Prisoners Don’t Have AC Access and It’s Unclear When They Will Get It
Two thirds of people incarcerated in Texas’ prisons face another summer without air conditioning after lawmakers again declined to pass legislation that would mandate a timeline for installing climate control in state facilities.
Most Texas prisoners don’t have AC access and it’s unclear when they …
Despite receiving substantial state funding to air-condition prisons in the last few years, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has stayed mum on when it will install cooling across the system.
Most Texas prisoners don’t have AC access and it’s unclear when they will get it
Despite receiving substantial state funding to air-condition prisons in the last few years, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has stayed mum on when it will install cooling across the system.
Most Texas prisoners don’t have AC access and it’s unclear when they will get it - MyParisTexas
Despite receiving substantial state funding to air-condition prisons in the last few years, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has stayed mum on when it will install cooling across the system. Two thirds of people incarcerated in Texas’ prisons face another summer without air conditioning after lawmakers again declined to pass legislation that would mandate a timeline for installing climate control in state facilities. After years of promi…
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