The State of Texas has absorbed more than $1.5 million from the unclaimed trust fund accounts of deceased or released prisoners over the last three fiscal years, records obtained by The Dallas Express reveal.
The agency transferred 21,276 inmate trust fund accounts worth $1,550,086.69 to the state’s unclaimed-property division during that same period, the data show. The funds, which typically include modest commissary balances or family deposits, are held for two years before being forfeited to the state if unclaimed.
FY 2023: 6,375 accounts — $326,434.51
FY 2024: 7,274 accounts — $746,314.39
FY 2025: 7,627 accounts — $477,337.79
Under TDCJ policy AD-03.29, part of the “Procedures To Be Followed In Case Of Inmate Death” policy, any inmate trust account left unclaimed for two years “shall escheat to the State of Texas.”
While state policy indicates that these funds are routed into the unclaimed-property system — where relatives can still file claims — the data underscore a steady rise in uncollected accounts and raise questions about whether families are being adequately notified when loved ones die in custody.
For families unaware of a relative’s death or lacking the resources to file a claim, those modest sums quietly disappear into the state’s balance sheet.
Dead Prisoners, Living Revenue
The Dallas Express reported that 333 prisoners have been buried at the Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery in Huntsville since 2024 — roughly 170 burials per year. Those who die without family claims are interred at the state-run cemetery, and their remaining assets eventually flow into state coffers.
Texas prison policy outlines several procedures for distributing a deceased inmate’s balance. Accounts under $2,500 can be claimed with a form; those between $2,500 and $75,000 require a small estate affidavit; and balances above $75,000 trigger review by the Office of General Counsel. But if no claim is made after two years, the money reverts to the state.
The average escheated account over the three-year period was just $72.86.
Small Wages, Tiny Savings
Texas is one of only six states that do not pay regular wages to most incarcerated workers, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. That policy leaves most prisoners dependent on family deposits and small credits as their only income. Prisoners typically earn nothing for custodial, kitchen, or maintenance labor, though they may receive small stipends for select “industry” jobs.
Without market wages, there are only a few streams of income left open to inmates, including family deposits and other occasional credits. Those funds can represent the totality of a prisoner’s savings.
The TDCJ website says the trust funds can be used to purchase “snacks, hygiene products… [and] correspondence supplies,” among other items.
A Costly System
Running Texas’s prison system costs taxpayers roughly $50.79 per inmate per day, or $18,538 per year, according to data from the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Each new state prison bed costs over $60,000 to build.
Those figures dwarf the $300,000 to $700,000 in unclaimed inmate money the state collects annually, suggesting the escheatment system functions less as profit than as a byproduct of the system.