Air on fritz at prison barracks

50 at PB unit uncomfortable in heat; fixing it, state says

A faulty air-conditioning system at the Randall L. Williams Correctional Facility in Pine Bluff is being repaired, a prisons spokesman said Thursday.

Department of Correction spokesman Solomon Graves said in a statement that the air conditioning at one of the prison’s barracks that hold about 50 inmates is not “fully functioning,” and that replacement parts have been received. He could not say how long the system has been malfunctioning.

Repairs to the system should be complete within a few days, Graves said. Fans were placed in the housing unit and inmates have been showering elsewhere to reduce humidity, he said.

Two prisoners inside Barracks No. 5 wrote letters to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette complaining that the air conditioning stopped working May 10.

Temperatures in Pine Bluff were in the 80s Thursday, but a “heat dome” last week sent temperatures soaring to near 100, and high heat indexes led the National Weather Service to issue heat advisories.

Graves said the highest reported temperature inside the barracks was 81 degrees, 3 degrees higher than the summer range of 74 to 78 degrees residences are supposed to maintain.

There were no heat-related illnesses reported at the barracks, Graves said.

“While our environment is unique, we are not immune from mechanical malfunctions,” Graves said in the statement.

“We monitor air temperatures in our facilities, and when necessary make repairs and/or system replacements.”

When reached by phone Thursday afternoon, the prison superintendent, Jeremy Andrews, referred all questions to the central offices of the Department of Correction.

The prisoners who wrote to the paper — Terry O’Neil and Robert Worthington — both said they are enrolled in the prison’s substance-abuse program. Prison records show Worthington is incarcerated on a theft charge and O’Neil on multiple drug charges.

Judy Hutchinson, Worthington’s aunt, said she visits her nephew every other Sunday and along with his mother have tried to contact Department of Correction officials about the heat.

“We don’t care whose at fault, we just want it fixed because it’s miserable,” Hutchinson said.

The McPherson women’s prison in Newport also experienced problems with its air conditioning earlier this month.