Alabama lawmakers on Wednesday began reviewing the latest prison construction proposal, a plan that would use a portion of the state’s virus relief funds to start building three new lockups.
The proposal calls for three new prisons — at least a 4,000-bed prison in Elmore County with enhanced space for medical, mental, and other health care needs; another at least 4,000-bed prison in Escambia County; and a women’s prison — as well as renovations to existing facilities. The projects would be done in phases and partly funded with $400 million from the state’s $2.2 billion share of American Rescue Plan funds, a key lawmaker who drafted the proposal said.
Proponents said the construction would be a partial solution to the state’s long-standing prison problems, which have drawn the scrutiny of federal regulators, but one lawmaker said it would put “old problems in new buildings” unless the state made additional reforms.
The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Alabama over conditions in the state’s prisons, saying it is failing to protect male inmates from inmate-on-inmate violence and excessive force at the hands of prison staff.
“It’s a part of the puzzle,” said Rep. Steve Clouse, the House budget chairman who worked on the proposal. “It will help us with overcrowding, to provide a safer environment,” said Clouse, a Republican from Ozark, who added that safer facilities should help the prison system recruit and retain employees.
Lawmakers looked at the proposal in meetings this week ahead of a possible special session on prison construction. Clouse said the initial reaction was positive, but they will be taking a firmer vote count over the weekend to gauge support.
However, Rep. Chris England, a Tuscaloosa Democrat, said new prisons will not “take care of the immediate humanitarian crisis in state prisons.” England said additional reforms are needed to address staffing, overcrowding, and violence.
“In my opinion, until you deal with the lack of leadership in the department and the problems at Pardon and Paroles, you are just making new buildings and putting old problems in them,” England said.
About a dozen friends and family members of inmates protested outside the Alabama Department of Corrections last week over conditions in state prisons that they argued will not be solved by new buildings.
Angela Wells said her son died last October after being stabbed by another inmate at Easterling Correctional Facility.
“When he first went there he told me, ‘Momma, I’m scared.’ I told him just keep on praying, that’s all you can do,” Wells said.
The new plan comes after Gov. Kay Ivey’s plan to lease new prisons from private corrections companies fell apart when financers withdrew. Clouse said the state would own the facilities under the new plan instead of leasing them. He said using $400 million in Rescue Funds, as well as $150 million in general fund dollars, would allow the state to build the first facility without borrowing money and paying interest. The bill authorizes a bond issue of up to $785 million to pay for the rest of the construction.
“This whole plan, I think, is a win-win-win for the taxpayers,” Clouse said.
Ivey sent lawmakers a letter this week asking them to consider the proposal to address the state’s long-standing, yet urgent, prison infrastructure challenges.”
“I do not use the word urgently lightly,” Ivey wrote, noting the state faces the possibility of federal court orders unless the problems are addressed.
Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
