Gov. Kay Ivey has announced proposed sites for three new men’s prisons and the private developer teams that will negotiate with the Alabama Department of Corrections on the projects.
The proposed sites are in Bibb, Elmore, and Escambia counties. The ADOC already has prisons in all three counties. Some of the state’s 13 men’s prisons will close as part of the plan for new prisons.
Today’s announcement is the latest step in a plan Ivey announced last year for the state to negotiate with private developers to finance, build, and maintain three men’s prisons that the state would lease and operate.
The selections announced today:
Facility One: Alabama Prison Transformation Partners (Star America; BL Harbert International; Butler-Cohen; Arrington Watkins Architects; and Johnson Controls, Inc.) with a proposed site located near AL-139/CR-2 in Bibb County.
Facility Two: CoreCivic (CoreCivic; Caddell Construction; DLR Group; and R&N Systems Design) with a proposed site in Elmore County (multiple locations under review; proposed site to be shared at a later date).
Facility Three: CoreCivic (CoreCivic; Caddell Construction; DLR Group; and R&N Systems Design) with a proposed site located near Bell Fork Road in Escambia County.
CoreCivic and Alabama Prison Transformation Partners were the only developer teams still competing for the projects.
They submitted proposals in May in response to a request from the Alabama Department of Corrections. The request says the state’s cost for leasing the facilities would be capped at a total of $88 million a year.
“The Alabama Prison Program is vital for the long-term success of our state and communities,” Ivey said in a news release. “We all – legislators, advocates, and taxpayers, alike – can and should agree that we must rebuild Alabama’s correctional system from the ground up to improve safety for our state’s correctional staff and inmate population, and we must do it immediately. Given the failing state of the ADOC’s existing infrastructure and that the Department already is faced with more than $1 billion in deferred maintenance costs alone, pursuing new construction without raising taxes or incurring debt is the fiscally sound and responsible decision. I am pleased with the integrity of this procurement process thus far and look forward to continuing to work closely with the legislature as we comprehensively address this intricate and important issue that affects us all.”
Alabama’s prisons are filled beyond capacity. As of June, the state had 19,562 inmates in facilities designed for 12,412, an occupancy rate of 157%.
The state has closed Draper Correctional Facility and the main portion of Holman Correctional Facility in the last two years.
The Department of Justice alleged in April 2019 that conditions in men’s prisons violate the Constitution because of the levels of violence and what the DOJ alleges is a practice of excessive use of force against inmates by correctional officers.
While most of the DOJ report focused on violence in the prisons, it also noted the deteriorating conditions of the state’s prisons and said the facilities “do not provide adequate humane conditions of confinement.”
Today’s announcement marks the start of confidential negotiations between the ADOC and the developer teams, the governor’s office said. The ADOC expects to complete negotiations by the end of the year and for construction to begin early next year.
The ADOC plans to close some of the existing men’s prisons. Ivey will set up an Alabama Prison Repurposing Commission to make recommendations on which prisons should close and which prisons could be renovated or used for another purpose.
The governor’s office said the ADOC is considering acquiring a vacant, private prison in Perry County as a transitional site for inmates getting out of prison. That would allow the ADOC to expand services provided through a contract with the the Alabama Therapeutic Education Facility in Shelby County.
A graphic from the Alabama Department of Corrections on the plan to lease three new men's prisons financed and maintained by private developers.
The ADOC says it can pay for the leases on the new prisons through cost savings.
The Alabama Department of Corrections says it can pay the leases on three new men's prisons through cost-savings.
Alabamians for Fair Justice, a coalition that includes former inmates, relatives of inmates and others affected by the criminal justice system, as well as organizations that support them, issued a statement opposing the plan for new prisons. The coalition supports sentencing reforms and expansion of programs that are alternatives to prison.
“If Alabama truly wants to address the prison crisis, lawmakers must pass sentencing reforms like abolishing the Habitual Felony Offender Act and making the 2013 Sentencing Guidelines retroactive; investing in prison alternatives and community resources such as diversion programs, mental health treatment, and drug treatment; requiring the parole board to release more people; and creating a diverse and inclusive oversight committee to hold prison officials accountable for working to end the abuse of incarcerated people by ADOC correctional officers,” the coalition said.
Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, who has been involved in criminal justice reform efforts for years, said new prisons are part of the solution to the problems of violent, overcrowded, understaffed prisons.
“I think this helps. I think this helps move us in the right direction. But by itself, it does not solve the overall problem we’re dealing with in courts,” Ward said.
Alabama’s prisons have been overcrowded and understaffed for years. Former Gov. Robert Bentley proposed legislation that would have built new prisons with a bond issue. Lawmakers considered several variations of that plan but none won final approval.
Ivey is trying a different approach. Her plan calls for the developers to bear the costs upfront. Legislative approval is not required.
“She did the best you could do, considering the Legislature just failed to do it,” Ward said. “We just failed to do it ourselves.”
The proposed sites for new prisons are in central and south Alabama. Ward said he expects that to mean that some of the prisons in north Alabama will remain open, including Limestone Correctional Facility. Ward said the proposed sites are close to the prisons in those counties and said they have water, sewer, and electrical service available.
“I think she (Ivey) looked at it, I think the staff looked, I think the experts they hired looked at it, and that was the best decision they could make,” Ward said. “I think the locations are good. They’re close to medical facilities. They also, transportation-wise, aren’t too far for the correctional officers who work at the current facilities so they could keep their jobs. I think she did the best with what she had.”
ADOC Commissioner Jeff Dunn has said the state’s prisons are not designed to offer the education, training, and treatment programs necessary for rehabilitation and to reduce the likelihood that inmates who leave prison will commit more crimes and return.
“It is no secret that the ADOC is facing real, longstanding challenges, most of which are decades in the making and rooted in inadequate, crowded, and structurally failing facilities,” Dunn said in a press release. “Building new facilities that improve safety and security for staff and inmates and allow for effective inmate rehabilitation is the right and only path forward.”
Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a statement praising the plan for new prisons.
“Governor Ivey deserves our gratitude and praise for tackling head-on the toughest issue facing our state, replacing Alabama’s aging prisons with modern facilities that will better serve to rehabilitate the inmate population while also protecting our communities,” Marshall said.
“Years of delays in agreeing on a plan for their replacement - coupled with ever more costly maintenance - have created the need for action on the part of the State. Taking bold action to bring about this level of positive change is an example of real leadership and Governor Ivey is to be commended.”
But the Alabamians for Fair Justice Coalition said new prisons won’t fix what it said is a criminal justice system that disproportionately punishes African-Americans.
“Since the ratification of the 13th Amendment, states have been building prisons to warehouse and re-enslave humans,” the coalition statement said. “Predictably, Black people went from being a small minority of people incarcerated to the majority in less than 10 years. That trend continues in Alabama and other states to this day. Building new prisons will not solve the problems facing Alabama’s prisons: overcrowding, understaffing, inhumane treatment, excessive force, and sexual and physical violence. A prison plan focused only on building more cages will only serve to feed the prison industrial complex, resulting in the disproportionate incarceration and exploitation of even more Black and Brown people to pad the pockets of private prison corporations.”
About 52% of inmates in ADOC custody are Black, while Blacks make up only 27% of the state’s population.