ADOC Commissioner Jeff Dunn Archives • Alabama Political Reporter

Department of Justice: Alabama prisons still deadly, years after warnings

Despite warnings in 2019, the state has failed to address violence, contraband and homicides, according to the Department of Justice.

May 20, 2021

Families, advocates ask Alabama to release at-risk inmates amid COVID-19 outbreak

When Amber Faircloth learned Thursday of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in an Alabama prison, she worried that her husband, who has cancer, could be in jeopardy. Her husband, who’s serving time at Limestone prison, is one of more than 1,000 inmates most at risk of serious complications or death if the virus spreads … Continued

March 21, 2020

Early morning contraband raid at Easterling Correctional Facility

The Alabama Department of Corrections on Tuesday raided the Easterling Correctional Facility in Barbour County to collect contraband. More than 200 officials from ADOC, state Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, Department of Natural Resources, Game Warden Division, and Russel and Coffee County Sheriff’s departments conducted the early morning search, according to an ADOC press release. … Continued

February 26, 2020

State closing large part of Holman prison

Montgomery – A large portion of Holman Correctional Facility outside of Atmore is closing because of maintenance problems in a tunnel that carries utilities to those sections, the Alabama Department of Corrections announced Wednesday. It’s a decision that concerns a U.S. Department of Justice attorney, who is working with state officials to prevent a possible … Continued

January 29, 2020

Continued calls for external observers on “internal task force” on prison violence

External observers should be included on an “internal task force” formed in December to address deadly violence inside Alabama prisons, according to a criminal justice professor, who reinforced an earlier request from a group of prison reform advocates. David Rembert is a research fellow at the Center for Justice Research at Texas Southern University, an … Continued

January 3, 2020

Equal Justice Initiative report: Alabama prisons deadliest in nation despite funding increases

So far this year, 13 Alabama inmates have been murdered, which was twice as many as were killed during the entire ten-year period between 1999 and 2009, making the state’s prisons the most dangerous in the nation, according to an Alabama nonprofit. The Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative, which provides legal services for inmates, released the … Continued

November 19, 2019

Governor signs contract with prison health care provider

Gov. Kay Ivey’s recently signed a contract with Wexford Health — a company that has been the subject of legislative scrutiny because of its proximity to a prison bribery scandal in Mississippi. Ivey’s press office said Monday the governor signed the $360 million contract between the Alabama Department of Corrections and the Pittsburgh-based prison healthcare … Continued

March 20, 2018

In shift from Bentley plan, Ivey calls for new investment in prisons, correctional officers

By Chip Brownlee Alabama Political Reporter Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey shifted further away from former Gov. Robert Bentley’s plan to build new mega-prison as a solution for overcrowding and prison conditions federal courts have repeatedly ruled as unconstitutional. In her State of the State Tuesday, Ivey pushed for new investment in prisons and the Department … Continued

January 10, 2018

Prison healthcare negotiations move forward despite bribery claims

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter In righting the ship of state, Gov. Kay Ivey has demonstrated shrewd political instincts since taking office earlier this year, but her administration took a potentially disastrous turn this past week on a prison healthcare contract. Several reports on companies bidding to provide federally mandated healthcare service to Alabama’s … Continued

December 18, 2017