Advocates across the state have been voicing concerns over air conditioning, or lack thereof, inside Mississippi’s prison system. On Wednesday, officials with the Mississippi Department of Corrections vouched that they’re working to mitigate the sweltering temperatures for inmates.
In a statement issued to SuperTalk Mississippi News, MDOC acknowledged the hot conditions as summer sets in and said the agency has been providing inmates with extra ice, water, and fans.
“The Mississippi Department of Corrections is taking steps to mitigate the heat conditions such as providing inmates with ice, water, and fans,” a portion of the statement reads.
MDOC went on to point out that it recently installed air conditioning at the State Penitentiary at Parchman in July 2022, which is Mississippi’s oldest and largest prison. Less than a year after the announcement that AC was coming to Parchman, in April 2023, Commissioner Burl Cain estimated that other correctional facilities could see AC installations within a year and a half.
However, the new statement from MDOC confirmed that there is still no timetable in place for those facilities to get AC. Parchman is the only state-run prison that currently has an AC system installed.
“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; however, there is no timetable for that installation at this time. MDOC staff within the institutions are included in these efforts,” the statement concluded.
The agency’s comments came one day after the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency issued a significant threat of heat stress across the state, noting that heat stroke or heat exhaustion was “increasingly likely” with prolonged activity outdoors.
