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Five people have died from heatstroke in Texas prisons over the past two summers, and lawyers for the plaintiffs testified on the first day of a federal trial over lack of air conditioning at these facilities.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has not publicly acknowledged that heat was a significant factor in these deaths, and state attorneys also disputed these claims during Monday’s hearing.
The hearing in Austin followed U.S. District Judge Robert Pittman’s March 2025 ruling that holding inmates in Texas prisons in hot facilities without air conditioning is “clearly unconstitutional.” At the time, the Obama appointee declined to force TDCJ to immediately install temporary or permanent air conditioning equipment, which the agency said could cost more than $1 billion. Instead, the judge pushed the plaintiffs — who want the entire prison to be air-conditioned by the end of 2029, with measurable milestones in between.
“TDCJ still refuses to treat this as an emergency,” attorney Kevin Homiak said in opening statements for the plaintiffs, which include several groups that advocate for people in prison.
Attorney Wade Johnson, who represents TDCJ, countered that TDCJ has stepped up audits, mitigation efforts and added cool beds. He also said the plaintiffs’ claim of deliberate indifference was “a very high bar to meet.”
The three suspected heat-related deaths occurred between June and August 2024, according to the plaintiffs. The remaining two incidents are said to have occurred in July and August 2025. In all of these cases, lawyers showed that the heat index was sweltering immediately before death, in some cases reaching triple digits.
Forensic pathologist Paul Uribe, who testified for the plaintiffs, said, “If you have an elevated core body temperature and an elevated environmental temperature, you have to consider fever.”
However, some people with alleged heat-related deaths did not have their temperatures recorded, and plaintiffs’ experts argue that TDCJ needs to address this gap to fully understand their deaths.
“If the coroner doesn’t know the body temperature, how can he give a correct opinion on the cause of death?” said Susi Vassallo, a medical toxicology expert.
Lawyers representing TDCJ argued that these deaths could be due to other issues, such as drug toxicity. They also asked experts to recognize that there are situations in which first responders need to prioritize other actions, such as first aid, over taking temperatures.
In addition to these alleged incidents, at least 23 people died from heat-related causes at TDCJ prisons between 1998 and 2012, according to court documents. More inmates and staff are reporting heatstroke-related illnesses.
Throughout the lawsuit, cost has emerged as a major issue in adding air conditioning to state prisons.
According to court documents, TDCJ estimates that installing permanent air conditioning in every unit would cost more than $1.1 billion, with annual operating costs of nearly $20 million. Former TDCJ Executive Director Brian Collier previously said he wanted to install air conditioning in all prisons, but simply didn’t have the money to do so.
The plaintiffs argued that the agency could pursue funding more aggressively.
“It’s a lot of money and it’s expensive, but all we need is money,” plaintiffs’ attorney Jeff Edwards told the Texas Tribune. “So if you don’t ask for money, you’ll never get it.”
The state Legislature has repeatedly failed to pass legislation requiring air conditioning in all Texas prisons, offering only partial cost estimates. For example, lawmakers provided $118 million to install air conditioning in 2025, which the department said will add 18,000 more cold beds. However, even this number leaves a significant portion of TDCJ’s population without adequate air conditioning.
According to TDCJ, as of March 25, there are 52,438 cool beds available. Johnson said Monday that the department expects to have 70,000 such beds available by the end of summer 2027.
The trial, which is being heard by Pittman instead of a jury, is expected to last two weeks.
