With at least 231 deaths from COVID-19 in Texas prisons and jails, the state has seen more infections and deaths among incarcerated people and staff than any other in the nation, according to a new report from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin (article available here).
The study also found that Texas inmates and staff tested positive for the coronavirus virus that causes COVID-19 at a 490% higher rate than the state's general population. Also, nine Texas inmates approved for parole died in prison before their release.
About 73 percent of people who died from COVID in prison did not have a life sentence. And 80 percent of people who died in jails from COVID were not convicted of a crime. Approximately 58 percent of people who died in prisons from COVID were eligible for parole–and 9 people who died in prisons from COVID were approved for parole but were not yet released.
Federal prison facilities and Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities were excluded from the analysis.