Beating the heat behind bars: The effort to add air conditioning to Florida prisons

Floridians use any means they can to beat the heat during the state's sweltering summers, but air conditioning is usually the first line of defense.

For inmates across the state, however, access to chilled air is more of a dream than a reality. Thousands serve their time in un-air-conditioned cells, and advocates have been pushing for change in the wake of last summer's record breaking heat waves.

"This is a crisis. Especially this past summer is the worst heat we've ever seen," said Connie Beroth-Edson, an advocate for inmates' living conditions. "And it's not going to get better. It's going to get worse every summer if we don't do something now."

After relentless efforts, Beroth-Edson was able to get some lawmakers on board. Sen. Tracie Davis, D-Jacksonville, and Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, filed identical bills (SB 296, HB 181) striving to make air-conditioning mandatory in every housing unit in all Florida correctional institutions.

Even though two Democrats are introducing the bills to a GOP-dominated Legislature, criminal justice is one of the areas where there is more agreement between the two sides than most, said Karen Woodall, a longtime lobbyist for progressive causes.

In fact, Woodall said there's a possibility the bills could make it all the way to the governor.

"This is something that's been around, it's been talked about, it's been pushed. They've been trying to do it through the budget for a couple of years now," said Woodall, executive director of the Florida People’s Advocacy Center in Tallahassee and co-founder of the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy.

But more than anything, creating awareness and getting visibility for the issue is crucial, she said. People often don't realize air-conditioning isn't common in prisons.

Related: Tallahassee federal women's prison in 'alarming' condition, inspectors say

Consultants: Three-quarters of Florida prisons don't have air conditioning

Last November, a report was released from KPMG, the company the Florida Department of Corrections hired to devise a prison system "master plan." It showed that 75% of all housing units lack air-conditioning.

The consultants estimate it will require between $6.3 billion and $11.9 billion over the next 20 years to revamp the aging buildings.

A DOC spokesperson declined to comment on the pending legislation, but Corrections Secretary Ricky Dixon said during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing last October that the situation is not unique to Florida.

KPMG's report confirmed what Beroth-Edson knew long before KPMG's findings were made public. She said she was appalled when her imprisoned loved one told her most of them lived without air-conditioning, inspiring her to be a voice for the incarcerated.

She has been working with the DOC since January 2020 to launch a pilot program in Lowell Correctional Institution, with the help of Rep. Yvonne Hinson, D-Gainesville, to find a cost-effective way for the state to provide inmates with air-conditioning.

Lowell was the perfect place to get the ball rolling, Hinson said, because the prison has elderly and pregnant women, a demographic that the amenity is particularly important for. It would also help attract and retain corrections officers to alleviate a statewide shortage.

Four years later, Beroth-Edson's solution — miniature split air-conditioning units, which don't require any ductwork — is officially up and running in Lowell, but she doesn't plan to stop there. She's hoping her success in the Marion County women's prison will spark a chain reaction throughout the entire system, and fast.

With summer quickly approaching, she said she wants to get units into the prisons well before the summer months set in. This year's legislation is exciting, she said, but Florida inmates don't have time for the legislative session to run its course: There needs to be action now.

Beroth-Edson said the key thing now is to push for funding. The air-conditioning unit in Lowell was donated, but other prisons looking to get the same luxury will have to purchase the units.

There is no money in the governor's proposed budget or in the department's legislative budget request for air-conditioning. Secretary Dixon "is really trying hard, but when you have no money, there's only so much you can do," Beroth-Edson said.

Hinson said funding is likely to be the biggest hold up. Otherwise, higher-ups in corrections are behind it.

"Last year before session ended, a group of wardens came to visit me — cheerful," Hinson said. "I've never seen that before, and they said they've never done that before. We believe it's a human rights issue, and I don't think we're alone."

At the same time, "the money is the problem here, I don't think human compassion is," she added. "Money for some legislators comes well before human compassion."

Elena Barrera can be reached at ebarrera@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X @elenabarreraaa.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Legislation this year aims to put air conditioning in Florida prisons