Prison guard shortfall makes it harder for inmates to get reprieve from extreme heat, critics say

The day before Patrick Womack was found face-down and unresponsive in a hot prison cell in August 2023, he asked a correctional officer to let him take a cold shower so he could cool down.

The officer said no, according to court documents. The reason: There weren’t enough guards at the H.H. Coffield Unit to watch him.

Attorneys for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice who are trying to dissuade a federal judge from forcing the state to cool its un-air conditioned prisons argue in an ongoing lawsuit that the state already provides incarcerated people with unlimited access to cold showers, ice water and air-conditioned respite areas.

But current and former prisoners, advocates and a former guard claim the prison system isn’t following through on those promises. In hearing testimony, documents and interviews with The Texas Tribune, they say a persistent staffing shortage leaves lock-ups without enough guards needed to mitigate against the heat inside un-air conditioned prisons, which reach well over 100 degrees during the summer. The prison system’s critics say that leaves incarcerated individuals without access to respite, ice water or cool showers.

“The excuse is always we are understaffed,” one of Womack’s cellmates told investigators, according to court documents. The cellmate noted there was “nothing unusual” about prison guards denying an inmate a cold shower.

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