PRATTVILLE, Ala. – State Senator Clyde Chambliss (R-Prattville) has been elected by his peers to serve as chair of the Joint Legislative Prison Oversight Committee and today released the following statement:
“I am honored and humbled that my peers chose to select me as chair of the Prison Oversight Committee. The current issues surrounding Alabama’s prisons are decades-old problems due to years of neglect and have resulted in significant challenges in our prison system,” said Chambliss. “The legislature was able to come together with Governor Kay Ivey and the Alabama Department of Corrections to propose a fiscally conservative approach to prison construction. With input from each group involved, we were able to develop an Alabama solution to this critical problem and avoid a costly, harmful federal takeover of the state’s prison system.
“The opportunity to find meaningful solutions to address this situation has been a top priority of mine for years. I am grateful to have led the charge to build state-owned prisons on state-owned land over the last seven years, and I remain dedicated to tackling this challenge in the future. There is certainly much progress to be made, but I am very pleased with the bipartisan work that has occurred as well as the current position we are in to be able to address this pressing issue.”
Passed by the legislature and signed into law by the governor in 2021, HB 106 requires the Department of Corrections to make quarterly reports to the Prison Oversight Committee and provides for additional reporting requirements.
Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro) commended Senator Chambliss for his leadership.
“As a long-standing member of this committee, I have all the confidence that Senator Chambliss, with his knowledge of the process, will lead us in the right direction,” Singleton said. “With all the problems that we may face, it won’t happen overnight, but I know he will provide us with the leadership necessary to make the necessary changes that need to happen within our prison system.”
Members of the joint committee include Senators Clyde Chambliss (R-Prattville), Dan Roberts (R-Mountain Brook), and Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro) and Representatives Chris England (D-Tuscaloosa), Jim Hill (R-Odenville), and Proncey Robertson (R-Mt. Hope). The committee is responsible for reviewing and discussing reports received from the Department of Corrections.
