Accountability.
A federal trial over extreme heat in Texas prisons concluded April 9, 2026, leaving U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman to decide whether the state must follow a court-ordered timetable for cooling prison housing areas.
The case, Tiede v. Collier, challenges conditions in Texas Department of Criminal Justice facilities that lack comprehensive air conditioning. In a March 2025 preliminary ruling, Pitman wrote that extreme heat in the system was likely serving as unconstitutional punishment, but he declined at that stage to order immediate statewide installation.
What the evidence shows
A Texas Newsroom and University of Texas analysis of four years of temperature data found that uncooled prison housing areas regularly exceeded 90 degrees. Plane State Jail recorded indoor temperatures above 100 degrees on eight occasions in 2023. Texas sets enforceable temperature standards for county jails, but no comparable statewide maximum applies to TDCJ prisons.
A 2022 peer-reviewed study estimated that 271 deaths in Texas prisons without universal air conditioning from 2001 through 2019 were attributable to extreme heat. TDCJ disputes broader allegations about heat deaths and has acknowledged only a smaller number of cases in recent years where heat may have contributed.
Cost and proposed timeline
At the 2026 trial, a TDCJ facilities official testified that fully cooling the prison system could cost approximately $1.5 billion. Plaintiffs asked the court to require air conditioning throughout the system by the end of 2029. The state described a longer construction plan extending into the next decade and argued that cost, electrical capacity and construction logistics affect the schedule.
As of the most recent reliable reporting reviewed for this update, the trial had ended and the parties were awaiting Pitman’s final ruling. This article should be updated when the court issues that decision.