Alabama to Close Most of Holman Prison
The Alabama Department of Corrections is accelerating plans to close most of Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. Officials made the announcement Wednesday, citing growing maintenance costs and safety concerns at the 51-year-old prison.
Holman opened in 1969 and has faced high levels of violence, overcrowding and understaffing over the years. The maximum security prison houses the state’s only execution chamber, which officials say will remain in use. Other parts of the prison will also remain open to house more than 150 death row inmates and around 150 “low-risk” inmates serving life without parole.
Most of Holman’s main facility will close, including the cafeteria, medical unit, administrative suite and housing units. Officials say those inmates who remain at the facility will receive health and food services from Fountain Correctional Facility, located about one mile away. They will also continue to work at Holman’s auto tag and clothing plants, which will remain open.
More than 600 inmates will be transferred to other state prisons, which already face high levels of overcrowding and understaffing. In a statement, lawyers with the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program called the move a “band-aid solution.” Both groups are plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against the ADOC regarding mental health and medical care of inmates.
“The movement of people at Holman to other facilities will only exacerbate the already deadly levels of overcrowding and the understaffing of correctional officers and mental health professionals at those facilities,” said attorney CJ Sandley.
Prison officials did not release a timeline for the move, citing security concerns. In a statement, corrections commissioner Jeff Dunn said officials will make “appropriate modifications” to ease the transition.
“We currently are working hard to identify and implement measures to account for the impact of increased populations across the correctional system,” Dunn said, “and to ensure continued access to health, educational, and rehabilitative services and programs for our inmate population.”
Dunn said daily maintenance at Holman has become too risky and unsustainable to continue. He said across the state, Alabama’s prison infrastructure “is failing.”
“We are now projecting upwards of $800 million in deferred maintenance costs alone,” Dunn said. “This unavoidable issue reinforces the critical importance of Governor Ivey’s transformative and necessary plan to build three new correctional facilities.”
Gov. Kay Ivey is awaiting proposals from approved developers for a plan to build three new regional prisons to replace more than a dozen facilities that house male inmates. Officials say they expect to have construction proposals by the end of April.
Birmingham is 3rd worst in the Southeast for ozone pollution, new report says
The American Lung Association's "State of the Air" report shows some metro areas in the Gulf States continue to have poor air quality.
Why haven’t Kansas and Alabama — among other holdouts — expanded access to Medicaid?
Only 10 states have not joined the federal program that expands Medicaid to people who are still in the "coverage gap" for health care
Once praised, settlement to help sickened BP oil spill workers leaves most with nearly nothing
Thousands of ordinary people who helped clean up after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico say they got sick. A court settlement was supposed to help compensate them, but it hasn’t turned out as expected.
Q&A: How harm reduction can help mitigate the opioid crisis
Maia Szalavitz discusses harm reduction's effectiveness against drug addiction, how punitive policies can hurt people who need pain medication and more.
The Gulf States Newsroom is hiring a Community Engagement Producer
The Gulf States Newsroom is seeking a curious, creative and collaborative professional to work with our regional team to build up engaged journalism efforts.
Gambling bills face uncertain future in the Alabama legislature
This year looked to be different for lottery and gambling legislation, which has fallen short for years in the Alabama legislature. But this week, with only a handful of meeting days left, competing House and Senate proposals were sent to a conference committee to work out differences.
