The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is planning to add 5,600 beds statewide across multiple facilities in anticipation of a growing inmate population.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice received hundreds of millions in state appropriations during the last legislative session, and more than $300 million of that funding is earmarked to construct 14 expansion dorms across the state. The funding is meant to meet anticipated inmate population levels, Hannah Haney, a spokesperson for the department, said in a statement to the Houston Chronicle.

The department housed nearly 139,000 inmates in TDCJ-operated facilities on Aug. 31, 2025, according to a department report. More than 56,300 inmates entered Texas Department of Criminal Justice-operated facilities in fiscal year 2025.

“Expansion dorms are a cost-effective method previously used by the agency to increase housing capacity,” Haney said.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice filed an application with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation Thursday to construct a 50,000-square-foot new corrections unit meant to house 400 inmates at Memorial Unit, a Brazoria County prison that houses men with low- to high-security levels. Construction is expected to begin in October and be completed in spring 2028. Memorial Unit’s current capacity is just over 1,900, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice on Tuesday filed similar applications for prisons in Lubbock and Bryan. The John Montford Unit in Lubbock is a medical and psychiatric prison with a capacity of just under 1,000, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The Hamilton Unit in Bryan is a pre-release facility with a capacity of more than 1,100, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Haney added that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice will build expansion dorms at 10 other facilities in Edinburg, Venus, Bonham, Richmond, Austin, Cleveland, El Paso, Dayton and Navasota. She said the facilities slated to receive expansion dorms were chosen because they are “well-staffed and there is a strong labor force in the area.”`