PRISONS

After a summer with record-breaking temperatures, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice released plans for air condition construction projects.

Texas is one of 13 states that does not require air conditioning inside of units.

A new report says many Texas prison inmates fear dying or falling gravely ill from the hot weather and believe actions taken by officials to mitigate the dangerous conditions continue to fall short.

Texas’ juvenile prison system is giving employees pay raises to address high staff turnover and staffing shortages that earlier this week prompted officials to stop accepting new children into its facilities.

Texas’ oldest death row inmate has been executed for killing a Houston police officer during a traffic stop nearly 32 years ago.

A Texas death row inmate who won a reprieve when his request for his pastor to pray out loud and touch him as he received his lethal injection sparked legal debate has a new execution date.

In a story published April 6, 2022, about the planned execution of Melissa Lucio, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Lucio would be the first Latina executed by Texas.

MEXICO CITY – At least 16 inmates in a central Mexico prison were killed and five more were wounded in a riot that closed out a violent 2019 for the country, authorities said. Zacatecas state security secretary Ismael Camberos Hernández told local press that authorities confiscated four guns that they believe were introduced to the Cieneguillas state prison during prison visits Tuesday. The melee broke out around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and the prison was brought under control by 5 p.m., according to a statement from the state security agency. Fifteen of the victims died at the prison and one died later at a hospital. No guards or police were wounded, Camberos said.