Judge Orders Texas to Air-Condition Prisons by 2029 Over 130-Degree Heat

Q: With a massive billion-dollar price tag, how will Texas fund the federal mandate to air-condition its prisons before the 2029 deadline?

Texas does not yet have a fully funded plan; in practice, it will have to pay for the mandate through new state legislative appropriations over the next several budget cycles, and likely at a much faster pace than it has proposed so far. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has estimated full air-conditioning will cost about $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion. Its current request to lawmakers is far smaller: roughly $289 million to $298 million in the next two-year budget for prison air-conditioning, plus another $591.8 million for climate-controlled expansion dorms. Even if both requests are approved, that would still not clearly cover the full retrofit ordered by the judge, because expansion dorms are not the same as cooling all existing housing units. In court filings, TDCJ had outlined a more aggressive two-phase funding path: about $774 million in the 2028-29 biennium, followed by $730.7 million in the next budget cycle. Judge Robert Pitman pointed to the gap between that outline and the smaller current request as evidence the state was not moving with enough urgency. Texas has already put some money into the effort — $85 million in 2023, $118 million in the following session, and more than $400 million for air-conditioned expansion dorms and the Dalby Unit purchase. But with the judge explicitly saying cost is not an excuse, the burden now shifts to the Legislature to appropriate substantially more money, rework TDCJ’s capital budget, or both, before the 2029 deadline.

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 22

A federal judge gave Texas until the end of 2029 to fully air-condition its prison system, ruling that extreme heat in most facilities violates the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
In a 150-page order, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman said the Texas Department of Criminal Justice had failed to act with reasonable urgency or commitment despite years of dangerous summer conditions.
Pitman wrote that outdoor heat indexes in Texas can exceed 130 degrees, leaving inmates to suffer every summer and, in some cases, die from the heat.
The order marks a major win for prisoners’ rights advocates, who have spent decades challenging heat conditions in the nation’s largest state prison system.

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The New York Times2h ago

Federal Judge Orders Texas Prisons Air-Conditioned by 2029

Houston Public Media21h ago

Federal judge orders Texas to air condition all prisons by the end of 2029 – Houston Public Media

The Texas Tribune21h ago

Texas ordered to air condition all prisons by the end of 2029

14 Sources

With a massive billion-dollar price tag, how will Texas fund the federal mandate to air-condition its prisons before the 2029 deadline?

If Texas fails to meet this strict federal mandate by 2029, what severe consequences could the nation's largest prison system face?

$1.5 Billion Mandate: Texas Prisons Face 2029 Deadline for Universal Air Conditioning After Landmark Federal Ruling

Overview

Extreme, life-threatening heat in Texas prisons has led to a landmark 2026 federal ruling requiring all state lockups to be fully air-conditioned by 2029. This mandate follows years of constitutional violations under the Eighth Amendment, as inmates suffered rising mortality, violence, and staff crises during brutal summers. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice faces a $1.5 billion challenge, complicated by budget cuts and skepticism over falsified temperature data. As climate change intensifies heat waves, federal courts nationwide are increasingly siding with inmates, pressuring states to modernize prison infrastructure or face costly legal consequences and federal oversight.

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