Mississippi Inmates Face Unbearable Heat as Air Conditioning Issues Persist

JACKSON, Miss. – As of Friday, five of the six locations where Mississippi’s prisons are located are under a National Weather Service heat advisory, and the Mississippi Department of Corrections has no clear timeline as to when it will install air conditioning to bring relief to inmates and staff.

“We are continuing to explore our options to provide air conditioning where possible; however, there is no timetable for that installation at this time,” MDOC spokesperson Kate Head wrote in an email. 

During a visit, the prison superintendent informed residents that the air conditioning would not be turned on for the foreseeable future. Incarcerated women expressed frustration. They noted that while emotional support dogs have access to air-conditioned areas, they do not. “We get the short end of the stick on everything,” one woman remarked. She highlighted the disparity in conditions compared to the men’s facilities at CMCF, which already have AC.

Last year, as air conditioning was installed in three-fourths of the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, Commissioner Burl Cain estimated that by 2025, AC would be available in Parchman’s Unit 29, South Mississippi Correctional Institute in Leakesville, and other facilities, depending on funding availability. However, the process is slow due to funding constraints.

8-inch fans

At Parchman, the heat index exceeded 130 degrees for 25 of the past 72 hours. On four separate occasions, it reached as high as 185 degrees, according to National Weather Service records. Pictures from Unit 29 show men using fans purchased from the commissary and placing mattresses on the floor to find relief. Although most of Parchman has had air conditioning since last summer, Unit 29 is still waiting for it.

At all prisons, 8-inch fans are available for purchase at $29.95 from the commissary. This is a significant expense for incarcerated individuals earning between 20 cents and $1.30 an hour from prison industry jobs. At the privately operated Eastern Mississippi Correctional Facility, air conditioning units have not been functional since the end of May, despite high daily temperatures and heat advisories. Technicians are diagnosing problems and will install new units when available. In the meantime, cold water, fans, and Gatorade are being provided to keep inmates and staff hydrated.

The national campaign Safer Prisons, Safer Communities, led by Families Against Mandatory Minimums and One Voice United, is addressing the issue of heat in prisons. Andy Potter, executive director of One Voice United, and Daniel Landsman, vice president of policy for FAMM, emphasize the importance of air conditioning in reducing violence, fatalities, and improving overall conditions in prisons. “Heat is just going to make all the things we are experiencing in our prison system worse,” Landsman said.