Transparency Dashboard

3-Year Recidivism Rate ↓

Down from 20.3% to 14.7% — nearly a 6-point drop. Reentry programming helps.

Reentry Services Delivered

Only about 30 of Texas's 100 state prisons are fully air-conditioned, leaving approximately 70% of prison beds in areas without climate control. Indoor temperatures routinely exceed 100°F during Texas summers. A federal judge ruled in March 2025 that housing inmates in these conditions is “plainly unconstitutional.” A trial over mandatory statewide AC began in spring 2026.

Staff turnover in FY2024 was 22.5% — down 3.4 percentage points from the previous year. While the trend is improving, turnover near this level means the average unit loses nearly one in four officers per year. Experienced officer relationships are key to both safety and inmate program engagement.

In 2023, TDCJ had a correctional officer vacancy rate of nearly 30%. Forty percent of working officers reported feeling unsafe in TDCJ facilities. Nearly half reported witnessing adverse events — assaults, escape attempts, or sexual assaults — on a daily or weekly basis. Understaffing drives up violence, limits programming access, and accelerates officer burnout.

TDCJ reported over 2,000 “adverse events” in FY2023 — a category that includes inmate-on-inmate assaults, sexual assaults, staff assaults, inmate suicides, escape attempts, and homicides. The Sunset Advisory Commission review of TDCJ took place during a systemwide lockdown triggered by unprecedented contraband and violence.

A 2022 JAMA Network study found that approximately 13% of deaths in Texas prisons during warm months between 2001 and 2019 may be attributable to extreme heat days. Subsequent trial testimony cited five suspected heat-related deaths in 2024–2025 alone. Three occurred between June and August 2024. A federal judge heard evidence in spring 2026 on whether deaths were accurately classified.

The Windham School District serves incarcerated Texans inside TDCJ units. In 2023, it enrolled 47,462 students — approximately 69% of all people released from TDCJ that year had participated in at least one Windham program during their incarceration.

In 2023, 17,933 Windham School District students earned a combined 19,253 industry certifications, on-the-job training certificates, and occupational licenses — credentials that transfer directly to employment upon release. Vocational training is one of the highest-ROI interventions in corrections.

A 2023 meta-analysis found that college-level programs in prison reduce the likelihood of recidivism by 41.5%. The return on investment is $1.61 for every $1 spent — driven primarily by savings on re-incarceration costs. Over 250 incarcerated Texans are on the waitlist for the Lee College reentry program alone.

The Vera Institute of Justice estimated in 2016 that 64,702 people incarcerated in Texas could be eligible for federal Pell Grants — federal financial aid for postsecondary education. The 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act restored Pell eligibility for incarcerated students. Texas has not yet fully built the college pipeline needed to serve this population.

At the Texas Health and Human Services Interim Hearing, Sen. Borris L. Miles said the Harris County Jail is the number one mental health service provider in the entire State of Texas — a reality shared by many counties. Jails should not serve as mental health providers.

Met threshold for serious psychological distress in past 30 days (BJS National Inmate Survey 2011-12, published 2017). Also: 37% of prisoners / 44% of jail inmates were told by a professional they had a mental disorder, vs ~5% of the general population.

El Paso has roughly 20 detox beds for a county of 900,000 people — an extreme shortage. This was cited in June 2026 House testimony. Without detox capacity, people in crisis go to the ER or jail instead of treatment — far more expensive and far less effective.

Between 30 and 40% of people experiencing homelessness have a serious mental illness — schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression. Untreated mental illness leads to behavior that results in eviction, job loss, and arrest. The cycle: mental illness → eviction → homelessness → arrest → incarceration → release with no housing → cycle repeats. Mental Health Treatment Courts are proven to break this cycle.

TDCJ total appropriation ~$9.4B for the FY2024-25 biennium (~$4.7B/year), per HB 1 / TDCJ operating budget. NOTE: the NotebookLM deck figures ($5.81B and $4.9B/year) were both inaccurate - use this instead.

In August 2014, TDCJ received the ACA’s Golden Eagle Award — given only to agencies with every facility accredited. ACA accreditation is voluntary and operates on a 3-year reaccreditation cycle. In FY2023, 25 TDCJ units were re-audited; in FY2024, 30 were scheduled.

PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) audits are federally mandated and conducted by DOJ-certified auditors independent of TDCJ. At least 7 units received documented noncompliance or auditor deficiency findings in the 2022–2024 audit cycle — while simultaneously holding ACA accreditation.

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) holds mandatory inspection authority over county jails only — not TDCJ state prisons. No equivalent state body is mandated to inspect TDCJ prisons independently. Federal PREA audits are the most independent routine evaluation TDCJ prisons currently receive.

Each TDCJ unit undergoes ACA reaccreditation every three years. Roughly one-third of units are reviewed per year on a rolling basis. ACA compliance scores from these audits are not published in a public database — only the accreditation status (pass/fail) is publicly noted.

TDCJ on-hand incarcerated population as of Aug 31, 2025 (132,350 prison; 3,568 state jail; 2,983 SAFP). Excludes people on parole/community supervision.

Texas incarcerates 751 people per 100,000 residents — higher than any independent democratic country on earth. This includes state prisons, local jails, immigration detention, and juvenile facilities. 219,455 Texas residents are currently locked up across all facility types. Each year, at least 505,000 different people are booked into Texas local jails.

For the same low-level offense category in Harris County (Jan 2023–Nov 2024), white defendants faced an average bail of $1,750 with a 73.2% case dismissal rate. Black defendants faced an average bail of $5,000 with a 66.7% dismissal rate — nearly three times higher pretrial cost for the same offense. This data comes from the TCJE / Restoring Justice judicial scorecard dashboard.

46.5% of people released from TDCJ prisons are rearrested within three years. Of those, 14.7% are reincarcerated. A rearrest is not a conviction — but it signals the gaps in reentry support: housing, employment, mental health, and substance use treatment.

60.1% of people released from Texas state jails are rearrested within three years — a rate significantly higher than those released from state prisons. State jails hold people convicted of lower-level felonies; many have substance use disorders and receive almost no programming. Reincarceration rate: 20.5%.

Recidivism costs the state of Texas approximately $370 million per year in re-incarceration, prosecution, and supervision costs. Every person who returns to prison triggers housing, court, and supervision expenses averaging $25,000+ per year. Investment in reentry support pays for itself.

Formerly incarcerated people who find stable employment have a 16% three-year recidivism rate — compared to 52% for those who remain unemployed. Employment is one of the single strongest predictors of successful reentry. This data makes the business case for second-chance hiring programs clearer than almost any other statistic.

Three-year reincarceration rate for the FY2022 release cohort (LBB/TDCJ). Among the lowest state rates nationally. This is the baseline used in the Transparency & Accountability Act.

Between 25 and 50 percent of people released from prison or jail have nowhere to go. No housing = high likelihood of reoffending within weeks. Criminal records then make it nearly impossible to get approved for housing, employment, or benefits — creating a cycle that is nearly impossible to break without intentional intervention.

The majority of people cycling through the criminal justice system have a substance use disorder — most often alcohol, methamphetamine, or opioids. Incarceration without treatment does not address addiction. Without treatment after release, relapse is likely, often leading to re-arrest. Substance use is the #1 root cause of recidivism.

Nearly 1 in 4 people leaving prison or jail have a diagnosed mental illness — far higher than the general population rate of about 5%. Mental health courts and diversion programs have strong evidence of reducing recidivism for this population. Without treatment and supportive housing, they cycle between homelessness, hospitalization, and incarceration.

About 1 in 5 Texans released from TDCJ return to incarceration within 3 years. The national average is around 43% within 3 years, so Texas performs better than average — but 21% still means tens of thousands cycling back. Root causes (untreated addiction, no housing, no employment, no ID) are not addressed by incarceration alone.

The unemployment rate for formerly incarcerated people exceeds 27% — more than six times the national average of 4.2% (August 2024). Between 60 and 75 percent remain unemployed one year after release. Only 40% are employed at any point during the four years following federal release. A criminal record is treated as a lifetime disqualifier by many employers, even for jobs where it is irrelevant.

People released from prison earn an average of $19,610 per year — well below the federal poverty line for a family of four. Formerly incarcerated men work nine fewer weeks per year on average and earn 40% less than similarly situated men who were never incarcerated. By age 48, the cumulative lost earnings total approximately $179,000.

Black women who are formerly incarcerated face a 43.6% unemployment rate — compared to 18.4% for formerly incarcerated white men. Racial and gender disparities in the job market are compounded by a criminal record, creating a nearly insurmountable barrier for some of the most vulnerable returning citizens.

People who have been incarcerated are 10 times more likely to be homeless than the general population. In Travis County, over 6,000 individuals were unhoused per day in 2024. A criminal record bars applicants from most subsidized housing programs, and private landlords routinely deny rental applications based on conviction history alone — even for offenses that occurred decades earlier.

In 2007, Texas faced a $2 billion cost to build more prisons. Instead, TPPF / Right on Crime persuaded lawmakers to invest $241 million in alternative sentencing, treatment, and rehabilitation. The result: 11 prisons closed, crime fell to its lowest level since the 1960s, and Texas saved approximately $4 billion in projected construction and operating costs — while simultaneously reducing the incarceration rate by 20%.

Since Texas's landmark 2007 criminal justice reforms, 11 prison facilities have been closed — not because crime spiked, but because investment in treatment and alternatives worked. This is the model cited nationally as proof that a state can simultaneously become safer and less reliant on incarceration.

Met DSM-IV criteria for drug dependence or abuse (BJS National Inmate Survey 2007-09, published 2017). Most recent BJS national figure - it is dated; a Texas-specific brief exists from Texas Appleseed (2025).

Roughly 1 in 3 people experiencing homelessness have a substance use disorder. This is both a cause of homelessness and a result of it — survival on the street often requires substances to cope with trauma, cold, fear, and hopelessness. Treatment must be available, accessible, and not require sobriety before entry.

Domestic violence is the #1 cause of homelessness for women. 35–40% of homeless women fled abusive households. When there are no shelter beds or transitional housing options, women must choose between returning to an abuser or sleeping on the street. Affordable housing and DV shelters save lives.

The HAY Center in Houston helped 137 foster youth secure HUD Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) housing vouchers. This is the model that advocates urge the state to replicate. Without state support for voucher services, youth age out without housing.

About 1 in 3 young people who age out of foster care become homeless within a few years. They leave care without housing, income, or a support system. Texas currently ends most foster care support at age 21 — advocates at the June 2026 hearing urged extending services and FYI housing vouchers to age 25.

Documented across 237 of Texas's 254 counties in the 2026 THDSN data dashboard. The true number is likely higher — 17 counties are not counted.

Over 1 in 4 homeless Texans sleep outside — in tents, cars, under bridges, or in places not designed for human habitation. These are the most vulnerable and hardest to reach with services.

74% are in some form of emergency shelter or transitional housing — but this does not mean they have stable housing. Emergency shelter is temporary and often unavailable.

Chronically homeless individuals are the hardest to house and the most expensive to leave unhoused — cycling through ERs, jails, and detox. They need Permanent Supportive Housing, not just emergency shelter. 36% of adult homeless Texans meet the HUD definition of chronically homeless.

Black Texans make up only 13% of the state population but 42% of those experiencing homelessness. This severe overrepresentation reflects structural inequities in housing, criminal justice, and economic opportunity. Addressing homelessness requires addressing racial justice.

Houston permanently housed over 32,000 people using a Housing First coalition model. 90% of those housed did not return to homelessness within 2 years. This is the most successful large-scale implementation in the US and proves the problem is solvable.

Haven for Hope's campus model reduced downtown San Antonio unsheltered homelessness by 77%. 90% of people placed in permanent housing did not return to homelessness after 1 year. This is the national model for a transformational campus approach.

Since opening in 2010, Haven for Hope has served over 52,000 individuals. The campus model — 75+ nonprofits co-located — means one entry point connects a person to every service they need.

Finland — specifically Helsinki — is the global pioneer of Housing First at scale. They have reduced chronic homelessness by roughly 80% over two decades by guaranteeing permanent housing with wraparound services, without preconditions. This is the gold standard evidence that Housing First works at the policy level, not just the program level.

Atlanta achieved a 40% reduction in veteran homelessness using coordinated Housing First strategies — similar to Houston. Veterans are among the most successfully housed population nationally because of the HUD-VASH voucher program, which pairs housing vouchers with VA case management. This model is proven and replicable.

Texas has a shortage of over 300,000 affordable housing units for low-income renters. This is the structural root cause beneath homelessness — demand for housing far exceeds supply at price points that low-income people can afford.

More than half of Texas renter households pay over 30% of their income on housing — the HUD definition of cost-burdened. Cost-burdened households are one crisis away from homelessness. For very low income households, the rate is closer to 80%.

PREA Noncompliance Scorecard — Documented Units (2022–2024)

The units below have documented PREA noncompliance or auditor deficiency findings, compiled from public PREA audit reports and Texas Prison Impact research. Every unit listed also holds ACA accreditation — illustrating the gap between voluntary accreditation and independent federal evaluation.

Sources: PREA unit findings from Texas Prison Impact based on publicly filed PREA audit reports — TDCJ PREA Audit Records. ACA accreditation: all TDCJ-operated units accredited per the 2014 Golden Eagle Award — American Correctional Association. Only data traceable to a public record is shown here. This section will be updated as additional verified unit-level data becomes available.