Ivey Signs Contracts To Build Two Mega Prisons
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed contracts Monday morning to enter into 30-year lease agreements with CoreCivic, one of the nation’s largest private prison companies. The move has sparked sharp criticism from residents, activists and lawmakers.
Under the agreements, CoreCivic will build two mega prisons in Elmore and Escambia counties and lease them to the state.
It is the latest development in the state’s plan to replace most existing male prisons with three regional correctional facilities that will each house from 3,000 to 4,000 men.
“I am pleased that we have reached this important milestone in the Alabama Prison Program, the cornerstone of a multifaceted strategy to address the ADOC’s long standing challenges and failing prison infrastructure,” Ivey said in a statement Monday.
The governor and Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) officials have been pushing for new prisons for years as part of their plan to improve conditions in state prisons.
Alabama’s correctional facilities are among the nation’s most overcrowded and violent, detailed in two reports by the U.S. Department of Justice, which recently filed a lawsuit against the state.
But many residents, including lawmakers and activists, have objected to the plan, frustrated with the lack of information released by the state.
In the town of Tallassee, Alan Parker lives less than a mile from where CoreCivic will build one of the new prisons.
“There’s been no input from the legislature or any hearings or any of that sort of thing on the matter,” Parker said. “And we just feel like the whole process has been, really, a joke.”
Because the state will lease the new buildings, the plan does not require legislative approval. State officials have released few financial details about the contracts, citing a period of confidential negotiations. Based on most recent estimates, the state will pay close to $3 billion dollars to lease the facilities over 30 years.
While private companies will own and maintain the buildings, ADOC will continue to operate and staff state prisons.
Prisons commissioner Jeff Dunn said current infrastructure is falling apart due to “decades of inaction and a lack of resources.”
“These facilities will provide a safer, more secure environment in which our heroic staff can better deliver effective, evidence-based rehabilitative programming to our inmate population,” Dunn said in a statement.
Many advocacy groups argue that the new mega prisons will not fix chronic overcrowding and violence in the state’s correctional facilities.
Construction on the two CoreCivic prisons is expected to begin this year to be completed in 2025.
State officials continue to negotiate a final lease agreement for a third prison slated for Bibb County. That facility will be built by Alabama Prison Transformation Partners, a developer group that includes Birmingham-based construction company BL Harbert International.
Hurricane Erin update: Forecast sees huge storm moving closer to U.S.
Forecasts nudge Erin's likely path to the west, increasing the risks at U.S. beaches. Experts say the storm's massive size, rather than its windspeeds, is what makes it a threat.
In 2025, musicians keep making music for their inner child
Lately, artists are reaching back in time to revisit and retain the spirit of a younger self, opening a door to another world for both themselves and their listeners.
Publishing this week: A James Baldwin bio, the hope of solar, Snow White reimagined
Bill McKibben says solar is a "last chance for the climate." T. Kingfisher offers a dark retelling of Snow White. Nicholas Boggs tells James Baldwin's story. Plus new debut fiction.
Air Canada says flights will resume Tuesday night after flight attendants strike ends
Air Canada said it will gradually restart operations after reaching a deal with the flight attendants' union to end a strike that disrupted the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of travelers.
Spain battles record wildfires even as the end of a heat wave brings lower temperatures
The fires have ravaged small, sparsely populated towns in the country's northwest, forcing locals in many cases to act as firefighters. About 2,382 square miles have burned across Spain and Portugal.
Alabama sets October execution using nitrogen gas
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Monday set an Oct. 23 execution date for Anthony Boyd. Boyd is one of four men convicted in the 1993 killing of Gregory Huguley in Talladega.
