Staffing shortages makes it harder for Texas inmates to deal with extreme indoor heat conditions, critics say

SEATTLE - The prison system in Texas continues to be under scrutiny over its handling of hot temperatures during summer months that has put inmates at risk.

As reported by The Latin Times in August, Texas is one of a few states facing lawsuits over its dangerously hot prisons. As former inmates and advocacy groups continue to fight the unhealthy conditions inside Texas' prisons, critics argue that promises made by the TDCJ are not being followed.

In hearing testimony, documents and interviews with The Texas Tribune, critics say a persistent staffing shortage is leaving lock-ups without the proper number of guards needed to mitigate against the hot temperatures inside un-air conditioned prisons. They say that leaves inmates without access to respite, ice water or cool showers.

"The excuse is always we are understaffed," one of the inmates at H.H. Coffield Unit told investigators, according to court documents. The inmate interviewed was a cellmate of Patrick Womack, an inmate who was found face-down and unresponsive in a hot prison cell in August of last year. Womack had a core temperature of 106.9 degrees at his time of death, despite asking a correctional officer to let him take a cold shower so he could cool down.

Currently, about 24% of the 24,112 correctional officer positions in Texas prisons are vacant, according to TDCJ spokesperson Amanda Hernandez. But contrary to statements made by TDCJ's attorneys, state officials say understaffing is not a valid excuse for failing to follow protocols meant to protect prisoners.

"This place ain't for humans," the cellmate said. "Of course people are going to die."

Currently holding more than 130,000 inmates, only about a third of its 100 prison units count with full AC with the rest having partial or no air-conditioning at all.

Advocacy groups have previously requested U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman to require Texas to maintain temperatures in prison housing and occupied areas between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the temperature range required by law in county jails. Texas jails have been required to house prisoners at those temperatures since 1994, and federal prisons also strictly regulate temperatures.

In 2022, a study by the JAMA Network found that "approximately 13% of deaths in Texas prisons during warm months between 2001 and 2019 may be attributable to extreme heat days."

Despite the many studies around extreme heat conditions inside Texas' prisons, the state has not reported a heat-related death in 12 years, as the department differentiates between deaths where heat was the primary cause of death and those where heat was a contributing factor.

In the following weeks, Judge Pitman is expected to decide whether or not the state must install air conditioning in all of its prisons. Complying with such ruling could cost Texas more than $1 billion, according to officials.