Prisoners who volunteered for a mental health diversion program say promises of therapy and time out of their cells weren’t fulfilled. And Texas prison officials aren’t regularly tracking success rates — even as they ask lawmakers to fund an expansion of the program.
Texas Department Of Criminal Justice
Posted in
Criminal Justice
State Supreme Court rules Texas can hide the identity of execution drug supplier
Citing security concerns, the state has fought for years to keep the supplier’s name secret.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas officials say it would cost $1 billion to cool prisons – but they’ve grossly overestimated AC costs before
An estimate to put air conditioning into one prison changed from more than $20 million to $4 million last year.
![Evelyn Fulbright attended the Women's [In]Justice Day rally March 8 on the south steps of the Capitol.](https://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/05_Women_Prisons_March_MG-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Posted in
Criminal Justice
As number of imprisoned Texas women grows, lawmakers hope to add “dignity” to their time behind bars
Multiple bills filed this session aim to address deficiencies in women’s prisons.
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Criminal Justice
Texas senator proposes moving all youth in state lockups to shuttered adult jail
After shrinking the population at state-run juvenile lockups, state Sen. John Whitmire wants to move the remaining youth at five facilities to one recently closed adult jail.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2019
Texas may soon have to report the temperatures inside its uncooled prisons
The requirement was included in a budget amendment approved by a House subcommittee Wednesday.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
A state report says a Texas inmate died from heat last year. Prison officials contest that finding.
A recent in-custody death report said an inmate died from hyperthermia in July, but Texas prison officials said he was in an air-conditioned cell.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas Supreme Court weighs whether state should reveal execution drug supplier
Justices questioned whether revealing the name would risk physical harm to the supplier — or only hurt its business.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2019
Retirement and low pay caused Texas agencies to lose nearly 29,000 employees last year
Advocates for state workers are calling for increased pay after a State Auditor’s Office report released in December found that agency turnover was at 19.3 percent in the 2018 budget year. The top reasons employees said they left were retirement, better pay and benefits and poor working conditions.
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Criminal Justice
Convicted murderer Alvin Braziel executed for killing Mesquite man and raping his wife
Braziel’s attorneys failed to secure a delay in the execution after last-minute argument that prosecutorial conduct tainted his trail. He was the 13th and final inmate Texas put to death this year.
