DARTMOUTH — The Bristol County Sheriff’s Office is installing air conditioning in all the House of Correction's remaining housing units at the Dartmouth campus that lack AC.

Sheriff Paul Heroux said his office will not install air conditioning in New Bedford's Ash Street Jail because they expect to be closing it in the near future, according to a press release.

Making sure all all housing units in the county jail have AC has been Heroux's aim since last summer, and the project is now coming to fruition, he said.

Heroux said air conditioning in housing units is necessary for several reasons:

• Courts have held that excessive heat can be a violation of inmates’ Eighth Amendment rights against "cruel and unusual punishment." Part of the test is whether the temperature presents a substantial risk of serious harm to an inmate’s health.
• Inmates with health conditions and older inmates don’t fare as well in extreme temperatures.

Read more at heraldnews.com.