The latest Texas Department Of Criminal Justice news from The Texas Tribune.
Thanks to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, Texas prison inmates will be able to grow beards under a new policy expected to cost state taxpayers $500,000 a year in paperwork, beard nets and barber tools. Full Story
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Of the 501 inmate deaths that have occurred in county jails since 2009, nearly a third of them were by suicide. Most of those suicides were by hanging, with inmates using objects jailers provided for them as ligatures. Full Story
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A Texas correctional officer killed while escorting a prisoner to his cell was beaten to death with a two-foot pry bar, a tool guards carry to unlock the small meal tray openings in a cell door, the Tribune has confirmed. Full Story
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A rookie Texas Department of Criminal Justice guard was beaten to death Wednesday at a northeast Texas prison as he was escorting an inmate, one with an extensive history of attempted escapes and previous beatings of prison personnel, from a day room to a cell. Full Story
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A U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday that upheld the use of an execution drug used in Oklahoma will not change how death row inmates in Texas are executed, according to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman. Full Story
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The home address listed on a Texas driver's license used to be one of the best tools police had to track people down, serve warrants or notify next-of-kin when someone died. But no more in this job-hopping, mobile culture. Full Story
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Since 2000, the Texas prison system has referred nearly 400 cases of staff sex crimes against inmates to prosecutors. Prosecutors refused to pursue almost half of those cases. Of 126 prison workers convicted, just nine were sentenced to serve time. Full Story
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There are currently 261 inmates living on death row in Texas, the state with the most active execution chamber by far. Use this interactive to search through these men and women by the length of their stay, race, age and sex. Full Story
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To add transparency to the state's capital punishment system, the Tribune is unveiling a new tool for readers: Faces of Death Row. It profiles all 261 inmates facing execution, summarizes their crimes and allows filtering by race, age, sex and years spent on death row. Full Story
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Legislation that would keep the names of execution drug providers secret is headed to the governor’s office after the Texas House gave final approval on Tuesday to a Senate measure. Full Story
Brazoria County’s 33 newest Christian ministers aren’t your typical men of God. Some have been convicted of murder, and those who aren’t murderers are locked away for other serious crimes – most of them violent. Full Story
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Lawyers for a Texas inmate convicted of capital murder in the 1999 stabbing death of a prison guard have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his Tuesday execution. Full Story
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If the names of the compounding pharmacies providing execution drugs to Texas officials are made public, it could end the death penalty, state Rep. John Smithee told a house committee on Wednesday. Full Story
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A Mexican Mafia hit man convicted for his part in the 1998 capital murder of a San Antonio woman was executed Wednesday evening, leaving the state prison system with only enough pentobarbital for one more execution. Full Story
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The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which is nearly out of its current lethal injection drug, pentobarbital, has stockpiled the sedative midazolam. That drug could be part of a backup execution method in Texas, but it is at the center of a legal challenge. Full Story
Texas is one of nine states that automatically classify 17-year-olds as adults when they're accused of crimes. Campaigns to “raise the age” are gathering momentum in some states, and Texas is facing a spirited debate of its own. Full Story
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Donald Keith Newbury, 52, who was part of the "Texas Seven" gang of prison fugitives, was executed Wednesday night for the 2000 murder of an Irving police officer. Full Story
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The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is facing a scathing report and several lawsuits contending that correctional staff at a Huntsville prison regularly neglect, abuse and even violently beat prisoners with disabilities. Full Story
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Rick Perry will leave behind a criminal justice system in healthier shape than when he stepped in as governor. Terri Langford writes that how instrumental Perry was in improving it remains an open question. Full Story
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The name of the compounding pharmacy supplying lethal injection drugs for Texas executions must be released because it is public information, a judge ruled late Thursday. Full Story