With summer quickly coming to a close, the Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center could receive full air conditioning.
Eighteen prisons are located in Missouri: seven of these are fully air-conditioned, while six are partially air-conditioned. The Fulton Center is one of those six.
Five facilities completely lack air conditioning.
Five facilities are included in a capital improvement plan made by the Missouri Department of Corrections, some of which currently have partial air conditioning. The estimated cost for all five facilities totals $130 million. The work at the Reception and Diagnostic Center would cost approximately $13 million.
The other included facilities are Farmington Correctional Center ($55 million), Missouri Eastern Correctional Center in Pacific ($18 million), Moberly Correctional Center ($26 million) and Northeast Correctional Center in Bowling Green ($18 million).
Of these, the Moberly facility and Bowling Green facility lack air conditioning. The rest currently have partial AC.
Before the Department of Corrections can implement air-conditioning improvements, funds first have to be appropriated by the state Legislature.
Algoa Correctional Center in Jefferson City has no air conditioning at the moment, and will not receive any from the Department of Corrections. One reason for the lack of AC is because of the building’s old age, according to the News Tribune. The infrastructure of older buildings make it difficult to support the installation of air conditioning.
Algoa was built in 1932, making it the third oldest prison in Missouri. The Fulton Center was built in 1986.
Jefferson City Correctional Center, which is across the street from Algoa, has full air conditioning.
For facilities with partial or no AC, ice is provided during the hot summer months. Other precautions are taken as well, including industrial fans to circulate air.
When temperatures rise above 90 degrees, the department’s medical provider conducts checkups on elderly and chronically ill offenders.
The Kansas City Star reports offenders at prisons without air conditioning experience suffocating conditions and can have difficulties finding relief from the heat.
The Department of Corrections has received 40 heat complaints this year, according to the News Tribune. It is unclear if any of the complaints stem from any particular area.
