Gov. Bentley’s Prison Construction Bill in Committee

Gov. Robert Bentley wants to borrow $800 million to build four large prisons to replace Alabama’s aging and overcrowded prisons.

Bentley gave details Tuesday February 23, about the construction project he first announced in his State of the State address.

The proposed legislation asks lawmakers to approve an $800 million bond issue and change bid law so design and construction work can be awarded through one contract.

Bentley has said he believes the Department of Corrections can pay for the bond issue out of savings.

The three men’s prisons would house at least 3,500 inmates each. The fourth would replace Tutwiler Prison for Women, which was the subject of a federal abuse investigation.

The governor says he hopes to begin construction in 2017 and have the prisons open within three years.

An Alabama Senate committee is expected to vote on Gov. Robert Bentley’s push to borrow $800 million for prison construction.

The vote on the proposed bond issue comes after two violent uprisings at a south Alabama prison that Bentley blamed on overcrowding and staffing levels.

The Senate Finance and Taxation Committee has scheduled a vote on the bill for Wednesday morning.

Bentley said Tuesday that prison violence will continue unless problems of overcrowding are addressed. Bentley has proposed to build four large prisons and shutter most existing facilities.

Inmates stabbed the warden, a corrections officer and took control of a dormitory during two uprisings at William C. Holman Correctional Facility.

However, in a public hearing last week, lawmakers questioned the cost of the project and other aspects of Bentley’s proposal.

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