Texas should close prisons and jails with staffing challenges, state oversight panel says
A report found up to 70% of guard positions were unfilled at some prisons. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has a 26% staff turnover rate. Full Story
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![The Polunsky Unit on Jan. 31, 2024. The Livingston prison is where men on death row are housed, but they are executed at the prison in Huntsville, about 40 miles away.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
Handshakes, murals and ministry: A reopened Texas prison focuses on rehabilitation
The Bartlett Unit in Williamson County will house 1,049 male inmates who will participate in educational programs aimed to help them secure a job after they’ve served their time. Full Story
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![Men incarcerated at the Bartlett Innovation Unit sit in a dormitory-style room on Nov. 21, 2024 in Bartlett.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
Inside the only college class in Texas to help prepare inmates for life after prison
More than 250 Texas prisoners are on the waitlist to join the Lee College reentry class. Programs like these prepare students to find jobs and help lower recidivism. Full Story
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![Women who are incarcerated participate in a Lee College course that focuses on reentry at Lucile Plane State Jail in Dayton, Texas, US, on Monday October 28, 2024.]()
Credit: Callaghan O'Hare for The Texas Tribune -
Texas can schedule Robert Roberson’s execution — but lawmakers still expect his testimony first
Roberson was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter in a “shaken baby” case that many say led to an innocent man’s death sentence. Full Story
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![Robert Roberson seeks a new trial for the 2003 conviction of the murder of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in Palestine, Texas on August 14, 2018.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Search the newly updated Texas state employees salaries database
The Texas Tribune’s database of Texas state employees’ compensation is updated to represent salaries as of October 1. Full Story
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![Government Salaries Explorer]()
Credit: Photo Illustration by Ben Hasson / Texas Tribune -
Texas prison system’s staffing crisis and outdated technology endanger guards and inmates
A new state report says the prison population will outgrow capacity by the end of next year. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville on November 1, 2013.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Texas prisons and jails are recruiting more teenagers to shore up guard shortage
Two counties house training programs in local high schools as officials pitch corrections jobs as gateways to criminal justice careers. Full Story
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![19 year-old Detention Officer Justtice Taylor of the Smith County Sheriff's Office, on September 10, 2024, at the Smith County Jail in Tyler.]()
Credit: Michael Cavazos for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ prison guard shortfall makes it harder for inmates to get reprieve from extreme indoor heat, critics say
About 25% of Texas’ correctional officer positions are unfilled. Inmates say the shortages make it harder for them to get respite during hot summer months. Full Story
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![Mountain View prison in Gatesville on September 19, 2019.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Former Texas prisoners describe suffocating heat during trial over state’s un-air conditioned lockups
A lawsuit seeks to force Texas to fully air condition its prison system. Inmate advocacy groups say temperatures can push above 120 degrees in some units. Full Story
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![Prison staff and inmates move through the Darrington Unit's main hallway on Wednesday, July 12, 2017.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough/The Texas Tribune -
Search the newly updated Government Salaries Explorer
The Texas Tribune’s database of Texas state employees’ compensation is updated to represent salaries as of July 1. Full Story
![Government Salaries Explorer]()
Credit: Photo Illustration by Ben Hasson / Texas Tribune -
When Texas jails issue tablets, it comes at cost for inmates and families
A handful of Texas jails have issued electronic tablets to inmates. Counties can make money off their use. Full Story
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![A man plays a game in the Brothers in Arms cell block, a new veteran-focused program, at the Harris County Joint Processing Center on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Houston.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribunne -
Feds accuse Texas prison agency of discriminating against employee for wearing a headscarf
A federal lawsuit asserts that the Texas agency terminated a state prison clerk who refused to remove a head covering in line with her Ifa faith. Full Story
Credit: Martin do Nascimento for The Texas Tribune -
Search the newly updated Government Salaries Explorer
The Texas Tribune’s database of Texas state employees’ compensation is updated to represent salaries as of April 1. Full Story
![Government Salaries Explorer]()
Credit: Photo Illustration by Ben Hasson / Texas Tribune -
Texas inmates are being ‘cooked to death’ in extreme heat, complaint alleges
With the threat of another hot summer ahead, advocates asked a federal judge to declare 100-degree-plus conditions in uncooled Texas facilities unconstitutional. Full Story
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![Telford prison on Tuesday, March 21, 2017, in New Boston.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Texas inmate Syed Rabbani taken off death row after original appeal was left pending for decades
A prosecutor called delays in Rabbani’s long-standing appeal “a due process disaster.” Full Story
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![Joshua Reiss, a division chief with the Harris County District Attorney's Office, at right, hands Judge Lori Chambers Gray a copy of Syed Rabbani’s original trail transcript during a hearing for Rabbani at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, in Houston. Rabbani was issued the death sentence in 1988 after a jury found Rabbani guilty of killing a fellow Bangladeshi immigrant, 28-year-old Mohammed Hasan, at a Houston convenience store. (Antranik Tavitian / Houston Landing)]()
Credit: Antranik Tavitian/Houston Landing -
Texas’ top criminal court halts William Speer’s execution hours before he was scheduled to die
Speer has been on death row for decades after strangling another inmate at a Texas prison. The victim’s sister and faith leaders have both called on the parole board to halt the execution. Full Story
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![Interior of Death Chamber in Texas.]()
Credit: Jenevieve Robbins/Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Texas inmate killed by cellmate during a statewide prison lockdown
The killing of inmate Billy Chemirmir in the Coffield Unit occurred during a statewide lockdown of prisons, promoted by a rise in inmate homicides. A day before the lockdown, another incident at the same prison resulted in the firings of seven correctional officers and the resignations of another six. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville in 2013.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Texas prison system issues statewide lockdown to combat illegal drugs, inmate violence
The state has canceled all visits to Texas prison inmates until a comprehensive search of all 100 correctional facilities for contraband has been completed. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville in 2013.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
As the death toll in stifling Texas prisons climbs, congressional Democrats ask for investigation
Most Texas prisons lack air conditioning. At least 41 prisoners have died of heart-related or undetermined causes since the unrelenting heat wave began. Full Story
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![A thermometer is pictured inside a mock prison cell during a "Beat the Heat" awareness event at the Capitol on March 12, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver/The Texas Tribune -
A prison guard says she was forced to stay at her post during labor pains. Texas is fighting compensation for her stillbirth.
The seven-months-pregnant officer reported contraction-like pains at work, but said she wasn’t allowed to leave for hours. The anti-abortion state is fighting her lawsuit, in part by saying her fetus didn’t clearly have rights. Full Story
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![Prisoners work outdoors at the Dr. Lane Murray Unit, a women's prison that's part of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune
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