Bill Text: NJ A4514 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires air conditioning in State correctional facilities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-09-22 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee [A4514 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-A4514-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR.
District 7 (Burlington)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblyman STERLEY S. STANLEY
District 18 (Middlesex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Jaffer
SYNOPSIS
Requires air conditioning in State correctional facilities.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning correctional facilities and supplementing Title 30 of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
"Correctional facility" means any State correctional facility.
"Heat index" means what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature.
"State correctional facility" means a State prison or other penal institution.
2. a. The Commissioner of Corrections shall, pursuant to P.L.1976, c.98, s.6 (C.30:1B-6), adopt rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section.
b. The rules and regulations established pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Each correctional facility which is not equipped with air conditioning shall be retrofitted with an air conditioning system within three years of the effective date of this act.
(2) The air conditioning system shall maintain a temperature that does not exceed a heat index of 85 degrees.
(3) All new State correctional facilities shall be required to be equipped with air conditioning when constructed in accordance with this act.
c. The commissioner shall require all State correctional facilities to record and report the daily maximum temperature inside the facilities, which shall be included in the annual reports of the Department of Corrections and the Office of the Corrections Ombudsperson, which shall also be made available on their official websites.
3. This act shall take effect immediately, except that the Commissioner of Corrections may take any anticipatory administrative action as necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires each existing correctional facility be retrofitted with air conditioning within three years of this act becoming effective. Construction of new correctional facilities, in accordance with this bill, will require installation of an air conditioning system. The Commissioner of Corrections would be required to ensure that the heat index or "feels like" temperature does not exceed 85 degrees.
The commissioner is required to record and report the daily maximum temperature inside each facility, and include this data in the annual reports of the Department of Corrections and the Office of the Corrections Ombudsperson, which are to be made available on their official websites.
In the sponsor's view, excessive heat and lack of air conditioning put the elderly, those with health conditions such as high blood pressure and mental health issues at a higher risk. According to the sponsor, the Department of Corrections has current protocols in place to address excess heat which are initiated when temperatures exceed 85 degrees. The sponsor's intent is to have correctional facilities maintain indoor temperatures between 60 and 85 degrees. The bill clarifies that the reference to 85 degrees refers to the heat index or "how hot it feels" rather than the recorded air temperature.
