Missoula Pre-Release Center lacking air conditioning during heatwave

MTN has received reports the Missoula Pre-Release Center has been without air conditioning for more than a year and in this heat wave, it’s been a challenge to keep residents and staff comfortable.

We reached out to the Montana Correctional Services and talked to Executive Director Sue Wilkins who says they are being creative by renting commercial fans and swamp coolers for the building.

Montana Correctional Services is a Pre-Release Center for offenders to transition back into the community. The residents live full-time at the facility on Mullan Road but leave during the day to go to work or right now, try to cool off.

“When you hear the warnings of heat stroke and how heat can affect you, I literally take that very seriously for everybody that is here,” Wilkins told MTN.

The long-term solution would be to install a new cooling system in a 45,000-square-foot building. It’s been in the works since fall 2023 but there have been numerous setbacks.

Missoula Correctional Service is a non-profit agency that contracts with the State and the County to provide community correction programs in Missoula.

Wilkins says the new cooling system should be put in by the end of this year if all goes according to plan.

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