Accountability.
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas has appealed a federal judge’s order requiring air conditioning in every state prison by the end of 2029, and has asked that the order be put on hold while the appeal is decided.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice filed its notice of appeal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Oct. 8, about two weeks after U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ruled on Sept. 22 that housing people in uncooled prisons violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Texas Prison News reported on that ruling when it was issued; the agency said at the time that it planned to appeal.
What the state is arguing
In its filing, TDCJ said the order is “throwing chaos and confusion” into the agency’s existing air-conditioning plans and wastes limited resources. The agency argued that meeting the 2029 deadline would pull money away from other priorities, including contraband detection, health care and prison expansion.
TDCJ also argued that it is likely to win on appeal because the legal standard of “deliberate indifference” is hard to meet, saying its imperfect progress on cooling does not amount to deliberate indifference. The agency disputed the court’s finding that at least nine people died of heat-related causes in Texas prisons between 2023 and 2025, pointing to other factors such as overdoses.
Where things stand
As of Oct. 1, just over a third of TDCJ’s 104 facilities were fully air-conditioned, leaving about 90,000 incarcerated people without cooled housing. The agency estimates that cooling the entire system would cost about $1.5 billion.
TDCJ projects it will have about 90,000 cooled beds by 2028, when the prison population is expected to top 150,000. In August, the agency asked lawmakers for $298 million for climate control and $591.8 million for new cooled expansion dorms. The Legislature returns in January 2027.
The lawsuit began in 2023 with a complaint from Bernie Tiede, who suffered a heat-related medical emergency in prison, and was expanded the following year to cover everyone held in an uncooled state prison.
What the plaintiffs say
Erica Grossman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the appeal was not a surprise but was disappointing, and that the agency was spending state resources fighting the case rather than installing air conditioning. The plaintiffs are expected to respond to the state’s request to suspend the order.
The appeal does not by itself cancel the 2029 deadline. Unless a court grants the state’s request to pause the order, it remains in effect while the 5th Circuit considers the case. Texas Prison News will update this story as the appeal moves forward.