A state senator says his prison construction bill is dead for the session. Sen. Cam Ward made the pronouncement Wednesday. Ward says the bill already had heavy opposition in the House. It was wounded further by tensions over redistricting and other issues in the final days of the session. Ward says opposed lawmakers had threatened to filibuster the bill. The…
Governor Bentley’s Proposal to consolidate 14 of Alabama’s 16 prisons into four mega prisons has some County officials worried about how the proposed initiative could effect their economy. Elmore and Bullock County officials spoke out about what the initiative could mean for their towns. Bullock County Commissioner Johnny Adams says that if Governor Bentley’s proposed prison initiative is passed, and the Bullock…
The Alabama Department of Corrections will be pushing a proposal this legislative session to help Alabama’s prison overcrowding problem. The plan to consolidate 14 of Alabama’s 16 maximum and medium security prisons into four large state of the art regional correctional facilities is called the Alabama Prison Transformation initiative. Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn discussed the initiative with journalists who toured…
Attorneys say an Alabama inmate who killed himself after testifying about mental health care in prison received no counseling before taking his own life. The lawyers made the written arguments Thursday as a federal judge considers their lawsuit, which claims that Alabama prisons provide inadequate psychiatric care. Jamie Wallace killed himself just days after testifying in a trial earlier this…
Inmates in an Alabama prison are taking part in the “mannequin challenge” sweeping the country, using an illegal cellphone. Al.com reports that the men wearing prisoner clothing labeled Alabama Department of Corrections shot a nearly minute-long video of themselves freezing in various positions. They can be seen staging a fight, doing push-ups, reading on their cots and praying, both Christians…
Clint Travis Hunley At 12:05 p.m. on Wednesday, correctional officials at the G.K. Fountain Correctional Facility in Atmore reported a suspicious vehicle just south of the facility’s barrier fence with two unknown occupants inside. Officials said the vehicle fled the facility property after a male suspect tossed a package over the fence. Investigators from the Department of Corrections pursued the…
The Justice Department announced today that it has opened a statewide investigation into the conditions in Alabama’s prisons for men. The investigation will focus on whether prisoners are adequately protected from physical harm and sexual abuse at the hands of other prisoners; whether prisoners are adequately protected from use of excessive force and staff sexual abuse by correctional officers; and…
A corrections officer at an Alabama prison has died after being stabbed by an inmate. The Department of Corrections said Friday that 44-year-old Kenneth Bettis died Friday. An inmate at Holman Prison in Atmore stabbed Bettis on Sept. 1. A department spokesman said an inmate serving a 20-year sentence for robbery stabbed Bettis after being denied an extra tray of…
The Alabama Department of Corrections is investigating a fatal stabbing of an inmate that occurred at the Elmore Correctional Facility on Tuesday. The stabbing happened at approximately 4:30 p.m. during an altercation between two inmates. Prison officials report that Davieon Cotez Williams, 24, received multiple stabbed wounds in the altercation. Responding officers transported Williams to the facility’s infirmary and was…
The Alabama Department of Corrections is studying the state’s aging prisons, some of which could one day be replaced with a few “mega-prisons” housing up to 4,000 inmates each. The agency has a nearly $500,000 contract with an engineering and architecture firm to study Alabama’s aging prisons. Results could be used to make the case for new, larger facilities, a…
