Texas has been told by a federal judge to put air conditioning into every one of its prisons by the close of 2029, following a determination that the extreme heat inside the facilities is “plainly unconstitutional.”.
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman made the order Tuesday in a federal case brought by Bernie Tiede, the former mortician serving a life sentence whose murder case inspired the movie “Bernie.” The order follows a trial earlier this year and a 2025 ruling where Pitman found the heat “plainly unconstitutional” but declined to order immediate air conditioning installations.
The Judge’s Decision
The ruling cites witness accounts that inmates got sick, passed out, and splashed toilet water on themselves in an effort to cool down. It also points out that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice admitted to 23 heat-related deaths in its facilities between 1998 and 2012.
Plaintiffs presented “credible evidence” of additional deaths from 2023 to 2025 at least in part caused by heat, according to the order.
Officials at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice estimate that outfitting every facility with air conditioning would come in at roughly $1.5 billion. The state’s prison population sits at about 143,000.
The State’s Pushback
The state prison agency said Tuesday it will appeal the decision, noting it has “robust heat mitigation efforts in place” and is already committed to installing air conditioning in units. The agency said its number of air-conditioned beds has increased from 35,000 in 2018 to an expected 60,000 by the end of this year, with the number reaching 90,000 in 2028.
Texas Prisons Community Advocates founder and president Amite Dominick told reporters the verdict “made clear that the state cannot keep treating human lives as a budget line.”. She said the group “will be watching every deadline in this order.”.
Key Numbers
- Judge Pitman’s order: all Texas prisons to have air conditioning by the end of 2029
- Cost estimate: systemwide air conditioning would cost about $1.5 billion
- Air-conditioned beds: from 35,000 in 2018 to expected 60,000 by end of this year, reaching 90,000 in 2028
- Heat deaths: 23 between 1998 and 2012, with three additional deaths acknowledged in 2023
What Comes Next
The appeal of the state is still underway. Dominick has stated that she and her group will stay on top of each deadline as they come in sequence.
A deadline for installation has been set by the judge’s order. The plaintiffs will be watching to see whether the state meets it.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs Texas’s right to run its prisons as it sees fit and is against a federal judge ordering it to install air conditioning by a specific date. Decisions on what happens inside state prisons should be made by the state, not dictated from Washington.
The judge’s order is a federal overreach that takes power from the state and hands it to a judge, an office with no elected mandate to run Texas’s correctional system. It also sets a deadline for a $1.5 billion construction project, a cost that Texas lawmakers will have to shoulder if the order stands.
The plaintiffs have their case. The state has its pushback. The appeal is still underway, and the paper will watch to see how it plays out. But the principle is settled: a state should not have to wait for a federal judge to tell it to protect the lives of those inside its prisons.
Source material: “Judge orders Texas to have air conditioning at all prisons by end of 2029,” ABC13 Houston.
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