Back in June, officials with the Mississippi Department of Corrections attempted to quell concerns over lackluster conditions in state prisons – particularly, the lack of air conditioning in the sweltering summer heat. This week, MDOC Commissioner Burl Cain said there has been tangible progress to improve comfort inside facilities.
In a statement issued to SuperTalk Mississippi News, MDOC acknowledged hot conditions in their prisons. They noted that, while the agency seeks to add air conditioning to all their facilities, they were also focusing on short-term remedies until more permanent upgrades are possible.
“The Mississippi Department of Corrections is taking steps to mitigate the heat conditions, such as providing inmates with ice, water, and fans,” the statement read. “The agency has completed providing air conditioning at one state facility. We are continuing to explore our options to provide air conditioning at our other facilities as well.”
MDOC also confirmed that there was no timetable in place for the facilities to have permanent air conditioning. Permanent AC was installed at Parchman, Mississippi’s oldest and largest prison, in 2022. On Thursday, MDOC Commissioner Burl Cain said that, while there have been delays due to a lack of equipment, progress is also being made at other facilities.
“We’re really down the road good,” Cain told The Gallo Show, explaining that a women’s prison was seeing delays in getting AC units because installers were waiting on the arrival of electric transformers. “We decided we probably had enough power to turn them on in the next month or so, but the transformers are hard to get. But, we got to make it work now. They’re almost complete.”
Cain pointed to a lack of funds also resulting in some delay, although a combination of state money and MDOC funds have enabled the coming improvements.
“We’ve air-conditioned a lot of this. Some of it’s been with our own dollars and some with [American Rescue Plan Act] money,” Cain said, noting that the money has helped air condition one-third of the South Mississippi Correctional Institution in Greene County. “So, kudos to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the legislators, and Senator Pope to get this ARPA money to make our prisons more comfortable.”
Public attention increased on Mississippi prisons after a scathing report from the Department of Justice asserted that MDOC was violating the 8th and 14th Amendments in a failure to protect inmates from gang violence, along with not providing adequate living conditions at facilities. The state agency disagreed with the report but noted that they would be working with DOJ officials to resolve lingering concerns in state prisons.
