There were 132,955 inmates in Texas prison facilities in April 2024. Of the roughly 40,000 Texans released from state prisons every year, nearly half are rearrested within three years, and between 15-20% return to prison.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the state agency in charge of the prison system, oversees adult defendants who were sentenced in state court after conviction of a state crime.
TDCJ houses a few dozen to over 4,000 inmates in about 100 facilities, including:
- prisons
- private prisons
- state jails and,
- other kinds of facilities.
Texas 2036 takes a look at the latest data to better understand who make up the state’s frontline workers and the inmates and parolees they supervise.
