Published: July 04, 2009 04:31 pm      

Texas state inmates use fans to beat the heat

RIVERSIDE — Only 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.

In Texas the summer heat index can top 100 degrees. Prison officials say the 19 air-conditioned prisons are generally reserved for the sick and mentally ill.

So far this year, nine inmates and seven prison employees have suffered heat-related illnesses.

Prison officials have established hot-weather procedures that go into effect when the heat index reaches 90 degrees. Work crew inmates are given longer breaks and more water while they begin shifts earlier and finish when the sun is hottest.

Temperatures are monitored hourly, said warden Eileen Kennedy at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Ellis Unit. The Ellis Unit is located between Riverside and Huntsville. She said both prisoners and guards are schooled in the signs of heat-induced illness.

“It’s a lot of common sense,” Kennedy said of Ellis’ heat-abatement policies.

Up to 15,000 miniature electric fans are sold systemwide each year. The fans cost $22 each at the prison commissary and “loaners” are provided to inmates deemed indigent. Hallways, day rooms and dormitory units are equipped with fans.

Some prisoners have gotten creative. Roel Zuniga, 30, who is serving 12 years for aggravated assault, fills the holes in his bunk frame with water to cool off.

State Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, said the heat is “part of the reality of going to prison.”

“There are a lot of inconveniences of serving time. There’s no question it’s hot,” the Houston Democrat told the Houston Chronicle. “But it’s a matter or prioritizing resources.”

Many Texans, he said, would be less than sympathetic to prisoners’ heat concerns. Even if Texans were sympathetic, he said, retrofitting prisons for air conditioning is too expensive.

Prisons in hot states like Louisiana and Florida are also go without air conditioning.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas said heat cases come to the court only when prison officials knew of and ignored perilous conditions for prisoners.

“It’s useless to be crying about this,” said Kevin Kreyssig, 34, who’s serving a 40-year Gregg County murder sentence. “We’re the ones who put ourselves in prison.”