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Texas Jail Project

Organizing with and advocating for people in county jails to build a world where healthy communities make jails obsolete.

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Events and Announcements


Introducing our new website: A note from the Texas Jail Project Team

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Join us in Austin February 8th: Next TCJS Public Meeting

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When They Jail Us, They Fail Us

240

County Jails

Confine more than 70,000 people per day, the highest pretrial jail population in history.


0

Days

Since the last jail death in custody. Most people who died in jail would still be alive if they had a few thousand dollars.


2.4K

People with Disabilities

Are waiting in jail up to 600 days for a psychiatric hospital bed. Meanwhile, Texas leads the nation in rural hospital closures.

What We Fight For

An end to mass incarceration

catalyzed by

an organized, loving resistance to pretrial detention.

Invest in people, not punishment.

Latest Press


Houston Chronicle: Harris County Jail fails another inspection as investigations continue + Full TCJS Report

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Brazoria County seeks jail reform amid rising inmate population

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Workforce shortages in the state psychiatric hospital system prolong jail time for mentally ill Texans

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Storytelling Archives

Though published years apart, Texas Jail Project’s two standalone story projects each illustrate the boundless perseverance of community in the face of relentless cruelty.

Shedding Light

Produced in collaboration with Zealous and Civil Rights Corps, “Shedding Light’ is an intimate digital archive of over 100 interviews, essays, letters, poems, and accounts of people trapped in jail during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Jailhouse Stories

With the support of Public Welfare Foundation and Nation Inside, “Jailhouse Stories,” launched in 2015. The project, collected and published over two years, carved space for families from 34 counties across Texas to memorialize, grieve, and process the loss of their loved ones in jail.

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