A federal judge has ordered Texas to install air conditioning throughout its state prison system by December 31, 2029, ruling that extreme heat in facilities without adequate cooling violates inmates’ constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman issued the 150-page order on September 22 after a long-running legal battle over heat conditions inside Texas prisons. He ordered the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to immediately develop and implement a plan to provide air conditioning in every state prison.
The ruling comes as a large portion of Texas inmates remain housed in facilities without full air conditioning. The Texas Tribune reported that just over one-third of the agency’s 104 facilities were fully air conditioned as of September 1. Another report citing the court ruling said roughly 89,000 inmates were housed without air conditioning at the time of the trial.
Pitman found that the state’s existing heat-mitigation measures, including access to water, cold showers and designated respite areas, had not adequately prevented heat-related injuries and deaths. He concluded that the conditions in uncooled prisons violated the Eighth Amendment.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has estimated that installing air conditioning across the system could cost about $1.5 billion. The agency has said it disagrees with the court’s finding and plans to appeal the ruling.
The court’s decision also sets a faster timeline than the prison agency’s proposed schedule. Pitman rejected a plan that would have extended systemwide installation beyond 2029 and ordered progress reports every six months beginning in March 2027.
The case follows years of complaints and litigation over extreme temperatures inside Texas prisons, where summer temperatures can routinely exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). The latest ruling now places a firm deadline on the state to address cooling across its prison system.
