Judge orders Texas prisons cooled by December 2029

A federal judge has ordered the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to develop and carry out a plan to install air-conditioning in every state prison by December 31, 2029, ruling that extreme heat in uncooled facilities violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The agency says it will appeal, leaving the order’s implementation and funding unresolved. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman also directed the department to file progress reports every six months, beginning with a comprehensive plan and funding request due March 22, 2027. In his ruling, Pitman found TDCJ’s response to extreme heat insufficient and said its leadership had acted with deliberate indifference. The department disputes that finding. TDCJ data for September 1 showed 53,676 air-conditioned beds across its system. Just over a third of the agency’s 104 facilities were fully air-conditioned, and nearly 90,000 incarcerated people lacked cooled beds, according to figures cited in the case. The ruling describes prolonged exposure to extreme heat as a serious risk in facilities without air-conditioning. The scale of the work presents a substantial funding challenge.