Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has written a letter to legislators urging them to support a plan to build two men’s prisons to replace some of the state’s overcrowded and understaffed prisons.
The new prisons in Elmore and Escambia counties would hold 4,000 inmates each, more than twice the size of any of Alabama’s 14 prisons.
The plan calls for a bond issue of up to $785 million to build the prisons on state-owned property, as well using other funds, possibly federal COVID-19 relief funds, to help pay for the projects. The Elmore County prison would specialize in medical and mental health care, addiction treatment, and educational and vocational programs.
A second phase includes a new women’s prison in Elmore County to replace Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women, as well as renovations to Donaldson prison in Jefferson County, Limestone prison in Limestone County and one other prison in either Barbour or Bullock counties.
The plan is in a draft bill developed by legislative leaders and the Ivey administration. It is the result of talks that started after Ivey’s plan to lease and operate privately owned prisons collapsed because the developers could not obtain financing. That plan did not require legislative approval.
Lawmakers rejected proposals to issue bonds to build new prisons and close others during the Gov. Robert Bentley administration.
Legislators are expected to discuss the legislation in their caucuses this week. They are not in session but Ivey could call a special session to consider the proposal.
The governor described the situation as “urgent,” noting the possible results of federal intervention. The Department of Justice sued Alabama last year alleging constitutional violations for failure to protect inmates from violence and excessive force by correctional officers. In a separate lawsuit, Alabama is under federal court orders to improve mental health care and hire more staff.
“I do not use the word ‘urgent’ lightly,” Ivey wrote. “We are already under a variety of federal court orders that impose certain mandates, which take critical funds away from hardworking Alabamians and families. And if our prison infrastructure issues are not resolved in a timely manner and the state is unsuccessful in court, our budgets will be even more significantly impacted. As Alabama did in past years, we could once again be subject to government by federal court order rather than government by our own elected officials.”
The letter is attached to the end of this article.
Although the plan calls for renovations to at least three prisons, Ivey and the Alabama Department of Corrections have said for years that new prisons must be part of the solution to reverse decades of neglect of the prison system.
“Many of our existing facilities face severe space constraints in providing important services such as mental health services, substance abuse treatment, and educational and vocational programs,” Ivey wrote. “Experience teaches that one powerful way to reduce crime is to prepare our current inmates for life outside prison once they are paroled or complete their sentence.”
The plan calls for at least four prisons to close. The bill says that within one year of the completion of the new prisons in Elmore and Escambia counties, the Hamilton prison for the Aged and Infirmed in Marion County, the Elmore and Staton prisons in Elmore County, and Kilby prison in Montgomery County would close.
A third phase of the plan includes an evaluation of whether additional prisons should be replaced. The Alabama Department of Corrections would make that recommendation in consultation with the Legislature’s prison oversight committee.
Ad Choices