As bone-chilling conditions persist, some prisons lose heat By: Keaton Ross Oklahoma Watch February 17, 2021
Inmates gather in a common area outside of their cells at Joseph Harp Correctional Center in Lexington. (File photo by Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch)
As record cold and snow expands across the state, some Oklahoma prisoners say they’re freezing inside their housing unit.
Cynthia Schmitt’s son, a 26-year-old housed at the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center, has complained about cold temperatures for the past week. Because he’s a new inmate, Schmitt said her son hasn’t been able to purchase warmer clothing from the prison commissary and is relying on state-issued blankets to keep warm.
Whitney Bryen / Oklahoma Watch
As record cold and snow expands across the state, some Oklahoma prisoners say they’re freezing inside their housing unit.
Cynthia Schmitt’s son, a 26-year-old housed at the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center, has complained about cold temperatures for the past week. Because he’s a new inmate, Schmitt said her son hasn’t been able to purchase warmer clothing from the prison commissary and is relying on state-issued blankets to keep warm.
“Every night I go to bed, warm and comfortable, and I think about my child in there,” she said.
Corrections department spokesman Justin Wolf said Lexington Assessment and Reception staff distributed extra blankets to inmates last Tuesday and Wednesday. A power outage on Friday night briefly caused the facility’s heat to go out, but as of Monday afternoon Wolf said all of Lexington’s housing units were at a safe temperature.