Missouri lawmakers took a step toward improving conditions in some Missouri prisons last year by setting aside millions to install air conditioning in one of the state’s 17 prisons. That cooler air is still a year and a half away.
That decision came as global temperatures broke summertime heat records . Prisoner rights advocates celebrated the state’s decision to install air conditioning at the Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center, one of Missouri’s intake correctional facilities.
The Department of Corrections estimates that they’ll be responsible for housing over 20,000 men and women throughout the course of 2024. Of those, up to 9,200 could live in prisons where there is partial or no access to air conditioning in housing units. And as Missouri closes out its third-hottest summer on record, the calls to fully air condition Missouri prisons grow louder.
Those living in the prisons contend the hotter summers make conditions inhumane.
It’s a trend that worries prison reform advocates in Missouri.