A federal judge has ruled that conditions in Texas prisons without air conditioning violate inmates' constitutional rights and ordered the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to install air conditioning throughout its prison system by the end of 2029.

Texas prisons without air conditioning violate the Eighth Amendment U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman said extreme heat in the prisons poses an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death and that TDCJ's current efforts to protect inmates are inadequate.

The order affects tens of thousands of inmates and requires TDCJ to begin reporting its progress to the court next year.