BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS OWNER
This afternoon the Alabama State Legislature approved an historic measure to begin solving the state’s longstanding prison overcrowding issues.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed the legislation, which includes bringing a new 4,000 capacity men’s prison under phase one, and a new women’s prison in phase 2 to Elmore County. Both will be located on state-owned land. The men’s prison will be located directly behind Draper Prison in an area referred to as the “Crop Circle.” The exact location of the new women’s facility, which will replace the Julia Tutwiler facility, will be determined at a later date.
The Elmore County Commission released a statement earlier this afternoon.
“The Elmore County Commission appreciates that our state’s leadership recognized the value of locating these new facilities on existing state property in Elmore County.
Loss of the current prison facilities in Elmore County would have severely impacted the current annual economic impact of $170 million. Today’s announcement not only will alleviate that possible negative economic impact from occurring, but will aid in increasing the annual impact to an estimated $200 million. In addition, the new facilities in Elmore County are estimated to be a $767 million investment over the four-year construction timeline. Special thanks to Senator Chambliss, Senator Barfoot, Representative Ingram and Representative Holmes for their leadership on this critical issue for our state and Elmore County along with our local stakeholders who have been supportive of efforts to retain state prisons on currently owned state property.”
County Commissioner Bart Mercer praised the passage of the reform plan, saying it represents untold hours of work and research, and a strong commitment from legislators for Elmore County.
“Five years ago I was serving as chairman of ECEDA when then Gov. Bentley spoke of prison reform plans,” Mercer said. “We knew we (Elmore County) would be competing with 66 other counties, and we could not assume anything. It has been an ongoing battle since 2016. We are very glad for the governor’s office, legislature, Senators Chambliss and Barfoot, and the support of our House members to see this pass.”
Mercer said it is a great day for Alabama, the inmates that are housed in the current facilities, and for the correctional officers who have to work in the facilities.
Mercer said that saving the economic local impact the prisons have here, as well as an increase annually, is huge news. “And we expect a $760 million impact over the next four years during the construction period,” Mercer said. “This has been a group effort. You cannot be successful in a project unless all the leadership are working together. We saw this through Barfoot and Chambliss, supported by house members. We had our local stakeholders and were supported by ECEDA and the Elmore County Commission. It truly took a group effort.”
Senator Clyde Chambliss has been praised by many local officials for staying the course on the prison reform plan and protecting Elmore County interests throughout.
Chambliss told the EAN this afternoon that it took a huge amount of work, discussion, and effort from a lot of people to make this historic reform plan become reality.
As for the impact in Elmore County, Chambliss said, “I am really excited because we were looking at (a possible) $170 million drain from Elmore economy and now six years later we are looking at $200 million-plus that stays here for generations. This is a big win for all of us in Elmore County.”
But the thing he said he is most proud of has to do with creating a much safer working environment for the citizens who work in these facilities. “I am hopeful that, as in years past, our citizens will return to fill the jobs at the Department of Corrections. And now that will include healthcare and mental health as well.”
A big part of the new men’s prison in Elmore will include a hospital and mental health unit. Chambliss said the two entities will work together.
“What they will do is have the health care in one area and mental health facility in another. They are similar, so if an overrun in one side occurs, they will be able to utilize the other side and visa versa,” Chambliss said.
“This is a big day for our state. We have actually taken a big step in solving a generational problem and it is not the solution but the foundation of the solution.”
Over the next months, plans will be created for the look of the prisons, specifically the massive men’s facility. The construction of the new women’s facility will not begin until the men’s facility is approximately 60 percent complete.
“(The men’s facility) will not be one big, huge building,” Chambliss said. “It will be multiple buildings spread across the site, and very conducive to different levels of security. And there will also be the separate mental health and health care aspects,” he said.
This time last year, Gov. Ivey presented a plan that would have allowed the state to lease privately-built facilities, one of which would have been located in Tallassee.
That plan crumbled when financial backing for the developers of three planned prisons across the state failed to materialize.
Some in Tallassee were against a new prison being located in their town, though it was welcomed by Tallassee Mayor Johnny Hammock and other city officials. A petition circulated against the prison, while the Elmore County Commission argued it did not make sense to build new infrastructure away from the current site of several prisons.
Elmore County Commission Chairman Troy Stubbs said that today’s vote is a “culmination of many years of hard work by local officials, state legislature, the governor’s office and administration. We are so pleased to get to this point and look forward to working closely with the Department of Corrections and the state in making this project fulfill all of their goals and objectives.”
He continued, “I just think this is a testament to the positive things that can happen when groups work together and when our goals are for the betterment of our county and state. When we have that focus, and we are all moving in the same direction, great things can happen.”
So, how will the prison be funded?
In total, it is a $1.3 billion plan for the new prisons across the state. This will go a long way to relieve overcrowding, and allow for increased staffing.
Broken down, $750 million will come from a bond issue; $400 million from federal dollars including the Coronavirus Relief Bill; and $154 million from state/general funds.
Prisons expected to be closed eventually under the new plan are Elmore and Staton facilities in Elmore County; Kilby in Montgomery County and the St. Clair County facility. Governor Kay Ivey issued a proclamation earlier this week to begin the special session. You can view that proclamation here. The proclamation passed, other than one item which amended the facilities that will be closed. That amendment was that the Hamilton Aged and Infirmed Center will not be closed: https://governor.alabama.gov/assets/2021/09/2021-First-Special-Session-Proclamation.pdf
