Telangana State Prisons Department came into existence on 1st November, 1956 after the re-organization of States. Initially the Prisons Department consisted of only few Central Jails, District Jails and Sub Jails.

Subsequently during 1976 in pursuance of the policy decision taken by the Government to transfer the administration of Sub Jails from the control of the Judiciary to that of the Prisons Department, the Prisons Department expanded itself into a major Department. Over a period of time, with the up gradation of some jails as District Jails and Central Jails and due to construction of new jails, the number of institutions have increased under the control of the Department. In order to improve the operational efficiency of the institutions and to manage the department effectively, the administration has been decentralized and 2 Ranges were formed namely “Hyderabad Range” with 03 Districts and “Warangal Range” with 04 Districts . With the implementation of modernization schemes, the infrastructure of the Prisons Department improved further on account of the construction of new prisons, improvement in the hygiene and sanitary conditions, medical facilities, construction of quarters for staff and introduction of new correctional programmes for the prisoners.

Telangana State Prisons Department is considered as one of the most progressive Prisons Departments in the country. It has to its credit a number of far reaching reforms which were emulated by other states of the country. Among these achievements are introducing Panchayat System among prisoners, introducing Stainless Steel Utensils and Gas Cooking System in the Prisons, provision of septic toilets in place of dry type toilets in 1980, uninterrupted water supply and introducing innovative vocational training programmes for prisoners, besides providing of modern medical facilities.

In recent times, Telangana State Prisons Department has achieved the unique distinction of introducing the Video Linkage System between Prisons and Courts for the first time in the Country which enabled speedy justice to the Undertrial prisoners.