A federal judge says Texas must install air conditioning at all of its state prisons by the end of 2029.
The ruling from Austin-based Federal District Judge Robert Pitman caps a yearslong lawsuit over dangerous heat in the state's prisons. A coalition of prisoner advocacy groups sued the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in 2024, alleging the state's jailer ignored — or even hid — some heat-related deaths in prisons. The case went to trial earlier this year ahead of the order from Pitman on Tuesday. TDCJ oversees 86 state prisons and roughly two-thirds of the state's inmates live without air conditioning.
In that order, Pitman said the agency's efforts to mitigate heat deaths "have not prevented ongoing deaths and heat-related injuries" and that the lack of AC was akin to cruel and unusual punishment for the roughly 90,000 inmates living in units without AC. He ordered the agency to install air conditioning at all of its units by the end of 2029. Pitman said TDCJ must immediately submit a plan to install AC.
In a statement TDCJ said it "respectfully disagrees with the Court's ruling that TDCJ is deliberately indifferent," and said it would appeal the decision. The agency has provided AC to more than 53,000 beds in its prisons, according to TDCJ.
Plaintiffs' attorneys called the ruling a "resounding victory" for Texas inmates.
"Hundreds of people have needlessly died, and thousands of others have suffered and continue to suffer in Texas prisons every summer, including corrections officers throughout the system," the statement read. "The relief ordered by the Court undoubtedly will save lives, enable incarcerated individuals to serve their sentences without enduring needless suffering, and provide relief for everyone who lives and works in these conditions in Texas prisons."
Charlie Malouff, a former inmate and prisoner advocate, called TDCJ's decision to appeal the ruling a "waste of taxpayer dollars." Malouff successfully sued the state in 2018 to get AC installed at the Wallace Pack Unit in Navasota in 2018. He said he's aggravated TDCJ is pursuing a lengthy appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
"At this point, I think they need to be held accountable," he said. "Accountable and liable."
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