Texas Department of Criminal Justice

While many Texas prisons are understaffed, some dangerously so, the emptied-out Briscoe Unit in Dilley is in "maintenance mode" as officials scramble to implement the governor's plan to increase the state's role in border enforcement.

TxDOT was told in March to pause its North Houston Highway Improvement Project over civil rights and environmental concerns raised through the public input process.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice began moving incarcerated people from the Dolph Briscoe Unit in Dilley on Wednesday as part of the governor’s Operation Lone Star initiative, announced in March.

At any given time, thousands of Texas prisoners have been approved for parole but not yet released. At least 42 of those people died in the 12 months after the coronavirus first swept the state.

The bill initially approved by the House aims to cool all of Texas’ prisons before 2029. But even if it is signed into law, the lockups will only be air conditioned if lawmakers provide specific funds for installation.

In 2018, a lawsuit was settled that was the culmination of a years-long $7 million legal battle Texas lawmakers fought against supplying corrections facilities with air conditioners. This week, the issue has resurfaced as the House is reviewing a slate of bills aimed at addressing extreme heat at state prisons.

There are 99 state prisons and jails in the state, and several of which are named after people with racist and sometimes violent histories, according to The Marshall Project.

The Harris County sheriff has pleaded for help from a federal judge to make room at the “bursting” jail in Houston, where six inmates and two employees have died from COVID-19.

Three units across the state will be at least temporarily closed this month, according to the Texas prison system. The agency hopes it will help with dangerously low staffing levels.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice follows a state code that limits when a person can change their name.

Even though Texas' prison population shrank this decade, the publicly funded costs to treat inmates' medical conditions continue to rise.The state spent…

Tears often filled the eyes of the women in this Texas prison town as they prepared for their upcoming release from the system after years or even decades…