A group of formerly incarcerated Texans is organizing to bring change to Texas prisons. A free event Saturday, called Prison to Power, focuses on helping people personally impacted by the criminal system.

Watch the full video from Fox 7 Austin.

Today, the Texas Center for Justice and Equity (TCJE) released a guide to around 40 bills that passed into law during the 2023 session of the Texas Legislature. The majority of the new laws go into effect on Friday, September 1. These bills span youth and adult justice—including court processes and defense, probation and treatment options, incarceration and conditions of confinement, parole and reentry, and other relevant issues.

After a significant decline during the coronavirus pandemic, the number of people in Texas prisons has been on the rise in recent months and soon could cross the threshold of 130,000, according to state records. Officials with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice told the Chronicle the uptick had been expected, with prosecutors slowly moving forward with cases that stalled during the pandemic.

Read the rest of this story from the Houston Chronicle.

Family members and advocates of inmates incarcerated inside Texas state prisons, rallied on Tuesday in Austin demanding lawmakers add AC to all their facilities. “If Texas is pro-life, this should be a priority. We have lives that are in our hands and families are trusting the state of Texas their loved ones will make it home,” Maggie Luna with the Texas Center for Justice and Equity said.

Read the rest of this story from KRIS-6.

Houston Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles said he plans to change the district's early childhood centers and prekindergarten programs to address the "school-to-prison pipeline" in a sit-down interview with KPRC 2 reporter Khambrel Marshall over the weekend.

Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett of Texas has unveiled a bill that seeks to increase federal funding for states and tribes to purchase fentanyl testing strips. The Test Strip Access Act would amend the 21st Century Cures Act, providing grants for the implementation of overdose prevention programs for fentanyl and xylazine test strips.

Read the rest of this story from the DFW Record.

Harris County Commissioners Court this week approved a package of public safety measures to support state legislation to create additional district courts, expand the county's holistic assistance response team program and look at enlarging the public defender's office. The measures are aimed at ongoing efforts to reduce the ongoing backlog in the county's criminal courts system and relieve persistent jail overcrowding.

The U.S. is fighting a losing battle with the War on Drugs — arrests for drug-related offenses continue to soar and deaths from drug overdoses are only increasing. The U.S. continues to disregard how drugs impact the lives of so many in the name of justice, and a change needs to be made. Instead of contributing to the over-criminalization of drugs, lawmakers should make a more significant effort with harm reduction. Lives are at stake.

Desperate to restore order within the walls of the five youth prisons it operates, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department has been asking judges to push more of its most troubled kids into the adult prison system.

Read the rest of this article from the Texas Tribune.

The Beaumont Police Department began its partnership with Inspire, Encourage, Achieve five years ago in order to make a difference in the life of juveniles that are currently in the Minnie Rogers Juvenile Justice Center. There are 15 mentors that meet weekly with the juveniles to show them a positive outlook on life and help them believe in themselves.

Read the rest of this story from KDFM News.