On Tuesday, lawmakers asked the commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections questions about everything from building new prisons to fixing problems that affect the families of prisoners.
A lot of prison-building projects are happening in the state.
“There were 497 construction workers on the site as of last week.” “That’s a lot of construction workers, but that’s only about half of what will be there in two months,” Commissioner John Hamm said.
He said that the new Elmore specialized men’s center is about 25% done. It will have apartments, a hospital center, and a building for running the government. The jail should be finished by May 2026.
Escambia County is getting another building, but no date has been set for when it will open.
The state’s older jails should be replaced by these new ones, but some people aren’t sure if there will be enough room for the prisoners.
Many families worry about their loved ones who are in jail, so Sen. Bobby Singleton asked how they are being told.
Sington said, “I didn’t hear anything about actual assaults or deaths when families want to know more.” “What are we going to do about that?”
The commissioner of corrections said that priests are in charge of telling people about deaths.
For other questions, they say they want to make things easier by having someone at each site whose job it is to take calls from the public.
Another problem the commissioner said jails have is that drones bring in illegal items.
“There have been several crashes inside the facility, and weapons, drugs, and cellphones have been found,” Hamm said.
He told the leaders of the state to think about making a law that doesn’t allow drones to fly over prisons in the first place.
It’s not just Alabama. The chief said that drones have caused similar issues in jails across the Southeast.
