Yes.
Some Arizona prisons rely on evaporative cooling systems, or swamp coolers, to manage summer temperatures.
In 2023, Arizona’s Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry launched a plan to convert housing units in all nine state-run prisons from evaporative cooling to HVAC systems, but the conversions will take through at least 2026 to complete. Arizona also has six privately operated prisons, two of which appear on the conversion plan.
Extreme summer heat has been linked to an increase in deaths at state and private prisons alike over the past two decades. Temperatures in units without air conditioning can exceed 100 degrees.
This year, ADCRR implemented an extreme heat “safety strategy” that includes providing free ice for all people in prison, offering misting stations and other “cooling areas,” and relaxing rules about inmate wardrobes.
This brief responds to conversations such as this one.
The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.
Sources
- Arizona’s Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry, Facilities HVAC Conversion Plan (2024)
- Arizona’s Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry, Extreme Heat Safety and Relief Strategy
- Arizona’s Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry, Extreme Heat Safety and Relief Strategy Update 06-13-24
- Arizona’s Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry, ADCRR Prisons
- PLoS One, Heat-related mortality in U.S. state and private prisons: A case-crossover analysis
- Mother Jones, Arizona Officials Allegedly Covered Up How Hot It Got in Some State Prisons
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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is partnering with Gigafact to produce timely fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.
