Texas Department Of Criminal Justice

A new report recommends reforming the state-run jail system by mandating probation for certain types of nonviolent felony offenders and only using the jails for those who violate their probation.

Prison employee union leaders are pressuring the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Legislature to provide better pay, arguing that understaffing is particularly dangerous during the holidays.

The execution of Donnie Lee Roberts Jr., 41, on Wednesday for the 2003 shooting death of a Polk County woman marked the 250th execution during Gov. Rick Perry’s tenure, and the 12th in 2012. The total is the largest — by far — under any recent governor in the United States.

When lawmakers decided to charge inmates $100 a year for medical treatments, they expected it to help plug holes in the prison budget. But critics of the new policy say the result is less health care for sick inmates.

Jewish prison inmate Max Moussazadeh is demanding that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice serve him kosher food. On Monday, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear his case.

We’re liveblogging this weekend from The Texas Tribune Festival’s Law & Order track, which includes panels on exonerated inmates, forensic science, prosecutorial misconduct and the future of juvenile justice.

The cost to treat Texas inmates with hepatitis C is expected to soar by as much as 380 percent next year. Legislators, already facing a strained budget, will have to find millions more dollars to pay for this care.

As solitary confinement grows in the national spotlight, Texas lawmakers and advocates are concerned about the re-entry of prisoners held for years without much human contact. For many, it’s a matter of public safety.

During the 1990s, many Texans believed prison construction would help boost the economies in rural areas. Today, ongoing staffing shortages in rural units are causing legislators and other officials to reconsider that assumption.