Missouri DOC faces delays in air conditioning installation project

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Department of Corrections says air conditioning installation at some facilities will not be completed for several more months as summer temperatures approach.

DOC spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said the department came across obstacles during the installation process at the Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center, slowing progress on the project.

Pojmann said the vendor originally working with the DOC could not complete the project at FRDC within the department’s budget restrictions, forcing DOC to pursue another option.

“At FRDC, installation is underway, and we hope it will be completed within the next several months,” Pojmann wrote in a Wednesday afternoon email.

At the Moberly Correctional Center, installation has not yet started, according to Pojmann.

For now, both the Fulton and Moberly facilities are only partially air conditioned. The current projects would expand air conditioning into additional buildings.

Previous reporting shows partial installation includes administrative, transitional care and infirmaries where people receive medical care, segregated housing units and other buildings do have air conditioning.

Pojmann said inmates have access to cold water in coolers in common areas and running water in their cells. She says if ice machines struggle to keep up with the demand for ice, facility administrators are instructed to purchase as much "supplemental ice" as necessary.

The installation process across DOC facilities has moved slowly since the Missouri General Assembly approved funding during the 2023 legislative session as part of the fiscal year 2024 state budget.

Previous reporting shows installation was expected to be completed by January 2026. In 2024, Pojman noted that air conditioning projects at correctional facilities can be lengthy and complicated.

Fully air conditioned facilities:

• Boonville Correctional Center
• Chillicothe Correctional Center
• Crossroads Correctional Center
• Eastern Reception, Diagnostic & Correctional Center
• Jefferson City Correctional Center
• Potosi Correctional Center
• South Central Correctional Center
• Southeast Correctional Center
• Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic & Correctional Center
•   Western Reception, Diagnostic & Correctional Center

Partly air conditioned facilities:

• Farmington Correctional Center
• Fulton Reception & Diagnostic Center
• Moberly Correctional Center
• Northeast Correctional Center

Facilities with no air conditioning:

• Algoa Correctional Center
• Maryville Treatment Center
• Ozark Correctional Center
• Missouri Eastern Correctional Center