Prisoners ‘nearly suffocate every night’ as some VADOC facilities have no AC

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- 8News is taking action and investigating ongoing air conditioning problems in Virginia's prisons. Days of extreme heat across the east coast is exacerbating the issues.

"There’s seven prisons that do not have air conditioning in Virginia," said Democratic Delegate Holly Seibold. "I mean, they haven’t ever and they continue to not have it.”  

Those seven prisons are Nottoway Corrections Center, Buckingham Corrections Center, Bland Corrections Center, Harrisonburg Community Corrections Alternative Program, Appalachian Community Corrections Alternative Program, Cold Springs Field Unit and Deerfield Work Center.

But in the last week, 8News has also confirmed with the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) that all or parts of Greensville Correctional Center have also been having issues with AC.  

“I have talked to everybody you could possibly talk to and all I get is, 'We’re working on it,'" said a loved one of a Greensville inmate named Barbara.

Barbara’s loved one is currently serving a life sentence at Greensville. She told 8News he has underlying health issues like heart disease and a weak lung. But she herself has also experienced the hot temperatures at the facility in recent weeks.

“But it’s not just in their cells," she said. "The visiting room- I was there two weekends in a row, I was so red in the face he thought I was gonna pass out.”  

VADOC told us Greensville's issues began June 7, but some inmates were moved to parts of the prison where the AC was working.

“All inmates who are still within the affected building have been provided with extra ice,” VADOC said. “Large fans have been added to mitigate temperatures.” 

But in an email Barbara read aloud, her loved one said this isn't true.  

“'I can’t believe DOC would tell the news people that crap,'" Barbara read from her phone. "'We sure don’t get any extra ice. We are lucky to get what we are supposed to get. Most of the time the ice machine is broken down and they won’t fix it... our cells are so hot we just lay there, sweat, and nearly suffocate every night.”  

In the most recent General Assembly, Delegate Seibold spearheaded House Bill 1894 about temperature regulations in VADOC facilities. The goal was to install HVAC systems in the seven facilities with no AC. The Department of Planning and Budget estimated it would’ve cost $76 million.

"Some of them have heat stress or heat stroke. But you know what? That’s part of life. So, I’ll be voting no on this," said Republican State Senator Bill DeSteph in February when Seibold was presenting the bill.

Seibold said VADOC was in support of the bill.

“They were not against us trying to install air conditioning into it," she said. "They just didn’t have- they didn’t want to use their own budget to do so... it’s not just the prisoners in these situations. I mean, there are people who are working in these conditions.”  

Governor Glenn Youngkin ultimately vetoed the bill citing, in part, the cost. 

“Yes, they did wrong and yes, they’re serving time," Barbara said. "But don’t treat them like animals in a cage, and that’s what they’re being treated like.”  

Delegate Seibold said in addition to extreme heat in the summer, prisons also deal with freezing temperatures in the winter.  

When asked if she plans to present a similar bill at the next General Assembly, she said she’s had several prison-reform bills killed over the past few years, so at this point she doesn’t know.