Texas is heading into its third consecutive summer with most state prison housing units lacking air conditioning, nearly a year after a federal judge declared the extreme heat conditions unconstitutional and despite the state House passing a bill to mandate climate control.
A Federal Ruling With No Teeth
In March 2025, a federal judge in the Western District of Texas ruled that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice was likely violating the Eighth Amendment by holding prisoners in cells where indoor temperatures routinely exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The ruling confirmed what incarcerated people and their families have reported for years: that TDCJ facilities without air conditioning become dangerously hot during Texas summers, contributing to heat-related illness and death.
Yet the ruling stopped short of ordering TDCJ to install air conditioning, leaving the agency with no binding mandate to act. As of March 2026, roughly two-thirds of Texas’ approximately 100,000 state prisoners remain housed in units without climate-controlled living areas.
Legislature Passed a Bill — The Senate Killed It
During the 2025 legislative session, state Rep. Terry Canales filed House Bill 3006, which would have required the phased installation of climate control systems in all TDCJ facilities by 2032. The bill passed the Texas House with bipartisan support in May 2025. A separate measure, House Bill 145, sought to set indoor temperature limits between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit across all state prison units.
Neither bill became law. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick never assigned HB 3006 to a Senate committee, effectively killing it before it could receive a hearing — the third consecutive session in which the Senate blocked prison air conditioning legislation.
The Human Cost
At least 23 people died from heat-related causes in TDCJ facilities between 1998 and 2012, according to court records. A 2022 study by researchers at Brown University estimated that extreme heat contributes to approximately 14 additional deaths per year in Texas prisons — deaths that are often attributed to other causes on official records.
Incarcerated people have described conditions in which they douse themselves with toilet water to cool down. Hundreds have been diagnosed with heat-related illnesses including heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The population most at risk includes elderly prisoners, those on psychiatric medications that impair thermoregulation, and people with chronic health conditions.
More than 100 people died in TDCJ custody during 2025 from various causes including natural deaths, suicides, homicides, and suspected overdoses, according to agency data. Advocacy groups say the lack of transparency around cause-of-death determinations makes it difficult to establish how many deaths are heat-related.
What Comes Next
With the Texas Legislature not scheduled to convene again in regular session until January 2027, the federal lawsuit remains the most likely path to mandated change. Attorneys representing incarcerated plaintiffs have indicated they intend to push for injunctive relief that would require specific temperature controls.
TDCJ has installed air conditioning in some units in recent years, primarily in medical and psychiatric facilities, but the cost of retrofitting the entire system — estimated at more than $1 billion — remains a significant barrier. The agency has maintained that it uses heat mitigation measures including fans, ice water, and cooling areas, though incarcerated people and their attorneys dispute the adequacy of those measures.
As temperatures begin climbing across the state, families of incarcerated Texans are bracing for another summer of uncertainty. The question is no longer whether extreme prison heat is unconstitutional — a federal judge has answered that. The question is whether anyone will be compelled to do something about it.
For a full list of Texas correctional facilities, visit the Jail411 Texas directory.
