DALLAS — A federal judge has ordered Texas to install air conditioning in all state prisons by the end of 2029, ruling that extreme heat in facilities without cooling systems violates incarcerated people’s constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman issued the 150-page order Tuesday, directing the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to immediately begin developing a plan to install air conditioning throughout the prison system.

Texas summers regularly bring temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), creating dangerous conditions inside some prisons that lack adequate cooling.

In his ruling, Pitman cited testimony from people who had been incarcerated in Texas prisons without air conditioning. Witnesses described inmates becoming sick, losing consciousness and becoming so desperate for relief from the heat that they commonly splashed toilet water on themselves to cool down.

“These are not humane conditions,” Pitman wrote.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has estimated that installing air conditioning throughout the entire prison system would cost about $1.5 billion.

The agency said Tuesday that it plans to appeal the ruling. It also said it has “robust heat mitigation efforts in place” and is already working to expand air conditioning across its facilities.

According to the agency, the number of air-conditioned prison beds has increased from about 35,000 in 2018 to an expected 60,000 by the end of 2026. The agency expects that number to reach 90,000 by 2028.

Texas has approximately 143,000 people incarcerated in prisons across the state.

The lawsuit was initially filed in 2023 by Bernie Tiede, a former mortician serving a life sentence whose murder case inspired the movie “Bernie.” Several prisoners’ rights organizations later joined the legal challenge and sought to broaden the case.

In 2025, Pitman ruled that the extreme heat experienced in Texas prisons was “plainly unconstitutional,” but he did not immediately order the state to begin installing air conditioning. The case proceeded to trial earlier this year before the latest ruling.

The court also considered evidence concerning heat-related deaths in Texas prisons. The prison agency acknowledged that 23 people died in its facilities from heat-related causes between 1998 and 2012, as well as three additional heat-related deaths in 2023.

Pitman said the plaintiffs also presented credible evidence of additional deaths between 2023 and 2025 that were at least partly linked to extreme heat.

Amite Dominick, founder and president of Texas Prisons Community Advocates and a plaintiff in the lawsuit, welcomed the ruling. She said the decision made clear that the state could not continue treating human lives as a budget issue.

Dominick said her organization would monitor the deadlines established by the court order as Texas moves toward the 2029 deadline.

The state’s planned appeal means the legal battle over prison air conditioning is expected to continue as officials work to comply with or challenge the federal court’s requirements.

SOURCE: Associated Press, September 23, 2026.