Florida has the most dangerous prison climate in the United States. The state's average summer temperatures regularly exceed 90°F, with heat indices pushing past 100°F and 110°F in southern facilities. And yet, as of 2025, only 153 out of 639 housing units in the Florida Department of Corrections system have air conditioning. That means roughly three-quarters of the places where Florida's 80,000+ incarcerated people sleep, eat, and live have no cooling, regardless of how hot it gets outside.
The Numbers
The figures on Florida's AC crisis come from the Department's own infrastructure data:
- 639 housing units total across 73 active state prisons
- 153 to 157 units with air conditioning (sources cite slightly varying figures)
- At least 53 of 73 prisons have no air-conditioned housing at all
This is not a matter of old buildings that have since been upgraded — it is the current operational state of the Florida prison system as of 2025, after years of legislative debate, lawsuits, and advocacy that have produced minimal change.
Deaths at Dade Correctional Institution
The human cost of the heat crisis is most documented at Dade Correctional Institution, a facility in the Miami-Dade area. At least four inmates have died from heat-related causes at Dade CI over a four-year period ending in 2024. In late 2024, the Florida Justice Institute filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against FDOC on behalf of people incarcerated at Dade CI, alleging that the extreme heat contributed to these deaths and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The lawsuit alleges that despite documented heat deaths, FDOC has not taken adequate steps to protect incarcerated people from dangerous temperatures — and that this inaction constitutes deliberate indifference to a known, serious risk of harm.
What "No Air Conditioning" Actually Means in a Florida Prison
In housing units without AC, temperatures inside prison dormitories and cells can significantly exceed outdoor temperatures. Concrete and metal structures absorb heat during the day and radiate it through the night, meaning that temperatures inside a non-air-conditioned Florida prison dormitory can remain above 85°F through the early morning hours — with no relief.
For most healthy adults, sustained exposure to these temperatures is uncomfortable but manageable. For people who are:
- Elderly or over 65
- On psychiatric medications (many of which impair the body's heat regulation)
- Diabetic or with cardiovascular conditions
- Significantly overweight
- On diuretics or other medications affecting hydration
...sustained heat exposure in these ranges is a genuine medical danger. Florida's prison population skews older than it did 30 years ago — the result of long sentences imposed under mandatory minimums and habitual offender statutes. An aging population in extreme heat, in facilities without cooling, is a predictable recipe for heat-related illness and death.
The Legislative and Political History
Bills requiring air conditioning in Florida state prisons have been introduced in the Florida Legislature multiple times in recent years. They have consistently stalled, failed to advance out of committee, or been stripped of their AC requirements in the amendment process.
In the 2025-26 state budget, lawmakers in both the Florida House and Senate included a modest $300,000 pilot program to install air conditioning in correctional facilities — a small but symbolic gesture. Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed this funding as part of a larger $567 million package of budget cuts signed in late June 2025. The veto eliminated the pilot program.
What Families Can Do
If your loved one is housed in a Florida DOC facility without air conditioning:
- Ask which facility they are in and check whether that facility has AC housing units — some facilities have mixed units (some with AC, some without), and your loved one's housing assignment matters
- If your loved one has a medical condition that makes heat dangerous, ask their case manager or the facility's medical staff about medical housing accommodations — some facilities have medical units with climate control
- Contact Florida advocacy organizations including the Florida Justice Institute (floridajusticeinstitute.org) and the Florida ACLU (aclufl.org) if you believe your loved one is at specific medical risk from heat
- Contact your Florida state legislators about the heat crisis — constituent calls from families of incarcerated people are an underused form of advocacy on this issue
FDOC headquarters: 501 South Calhoun Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399. Phone: (850) 488-5021. Website: fdc.myflorida.com.