Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> StandDown Texas Project

Criminal Law

: StandDown Texas Project

Most Texas Prisons Lack A/C

By standdown

That's the title of an AP report carried in today's Austin American-Statesman.  LINKOnly 19 of 112 Texas state prisons are air-conditioned, leaving most of the state's 155,000 prisoners and those who guard them to face the summer heat with fans and primitive air-circulating systems. Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials say the 19 air-conditioned prisons are generally reserved for inmates who are sick or mentally ill. This year, nine inmates and seven workers have suffered heat-related illnesses. The prisons have hot-weather procedures that go into effect when the heat index reaches 90 degrees. Work crews get longer breaks and more water and begin shifts earlier. Temperatures are monitored hourly, said Eileen Kennedy, warden at the Ellis Unit in Huntsville...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on July 06, 2009 (boomark / email).