A federal judge on Tuesday refused to pause his order requiring Texas to air-condition all 104 state prisons by the end of 2029, the Texas Tribune reported. That leaves the deadline in place while the state appeals the ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman wrote that although the case raises serious legal questions, the public interest favors keeping the order in place, according to the Tribune. Pitman added that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) failed to demonstrate that it would suffer irreparable harm.
As of Oct. 1, just over a third of the state’s prisons were fully climate-controlled, leaving roughly 90,000 inmates without air conditioning. TDCJ officials estimate that installing air conditioning in all of the state’s prisons would cost $1.5 billion.
In his Sept. 22 order, Pitman found that conditions in Texas prisons without air conditioning violated the Eighth Amendment, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment.
In an Oct. 8 filing, TDCJ argued that its appeal would likely succeed because the legal standard for deliberate indifference is difficult to meet. The agency also said the order throws “chaos and confusion” into its plans to install air conditioning throughout the prison system.
TDCJ officials expect the department to have 90,000 air-conditioned beds by 2028. The state’s prison population is expected to exceed 150,000 by then, however, leaving some 60,000 inmates without air conditioning.
The legal fight began with a 2023 complaint filed by Bernie Tiede, an inmate who alleges he suffered a medical emergency due to the extreme heat. Pitman found that at least nine inmates died from the heat between 2023 and 2025 — an allegation TDCJ disputes.
“While it’s not a surprise given TDCJ’s long history of refusing to take accountability for the people in its custody and care, it is still disappointing that they are spending the state’s resources fighting this case rather than just installing air conditioning,” Erica Grossman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told Texas Tribune in October.
