The department operates 98 facilities, of which 31 are fully air-conditioned and 14 have no cooling at all. The rest have air-conditioning only in certain areas. The department has been adding air-conditioning each year and now has more than 43,000 “cool beds” — about a third of those in the system — according to Ms. Hernandez. The department has discussed plans to eventually air-condition all prisons at a projected cost of more than $1 billion, but still needs the funding.
OK, so most Texas prisons are only partially air conditioned. It’s so hot that inmates feel like they’re getting cooked. Even showers don’t provide relief because the water which comes out is already warm to hot. It can’t be worse than that, right? Oh wait…
The current cost of bottled water is now $7.20 a case. Before, it was $4.80 a case. An individual bottle now costs $0.30 as opposed to $0.20.
As triple-digital heat continues, Dr. Amite Dominick with Texas Prisons Community Advocates pointed out that the price increase could not come at a worse time.
“Oftentimes, the primary breadwinner is the person who is incarcerated. So that’s an additional financial strain, and then they are forced to purchase things like water,” Dominick said.
The TDCJ pointed out that inmates still have access to non-bottled water at their units for free, but Dominick said many Texas prisons are old with outdated pipes.
“The tap water is filthy. It’s simply filthy,” Watson said.