TEXAS, USA — State Rep. Carl Sherman is still waiting.
The North Texas Democrat has been asking Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session to make installing air conditioning in Texas prisons a priority.
It’s estimated that 70% of prisons in Texas do not have A/C in most living areas.
“If this was a work environment in the public, we would come in and shut it down,” Rep. Sherman told us on Inside Texas Politics.
Sherman says at this point, the state is treating animals better than humans.
The Democrat says the state requires A/C in animal shelters, something he says he experienced firsthand as a former mayor and city manager.
“We were required to have air condition for our animal shelters. And if we didn’t, someone’s going to jail,” he said. “I’m just asking for some humanity in this situation where we’ve got 128,000 souls in our custody where we’re not providing A/C at all to prisons.”
Sherman says it’s not just about the prisoners.
There are also the folks employed by the state who work inside the prisons who also deserve a safe environment.
“This is not about making it a hotel,” said Sherman. “This is also about our public safety officers who work inside our prisons, where we’re having a hard time keeping good people.”