APR

By Josh Moon Alabama Political Reporter A spokesperson for the Alabama Department of Corrections acknowledged that it ended contracts with several county sheriffs to house prisoners but said the change was due to budget cuts and not an effort to artificially inflate the prison population. Several sheriffs earlier this week expressed frustration to lawmakers over … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter Even before Legislation is passed to make the Office of Information Technology (OIT) a stand-alone agency under SB219, OIT Secretary Dr. Joanne Hale and her underlings have taken control of the Information Services Division (ISD) without Legislative approval, according to high-level sources. But this is just the beginning of … Continued

By Chip Brownlee Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY — A committee headed by Sen. Gerald Dial (R-Lineville) was unable to get to the bottom of who publicly distributed a letter last summer confirming a complaint against then-State Superintendent candidate Craig Pouncey. In a presentation to the State Senate on Thursday, Dial said his committee interviewed at least … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter Some may think the recent assaults on the Press are new, or unprecedented, but they’re not. From President John Adams to President Donald Trump excoriating the Press is always the first refuge for politicians who want to keep their secrets, failings and even their misrepresentations of facts from public … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter The investigative arm of the State Ethics Commission is nearing completion of its probe into potential ethics violations by Gov. Robert Bentley and his former senior political adviser/alleged mistress, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, according to those close to the investigation. These well-placed sources say Bentley and Mason recently received letters … Continued

By Josh Moon Alabama Political Reporter A scramble took place Wednesday at the Alabama State Department of Education and at the central office of Montgomery’s Public Schools to find the sources of a story that appeared on the Alabama Political Reporter. Several sources told APR on Wednesday that state department employees were questioned about the … Continued

By Josh Moon Alabama Political Reporter Over the past year, APR has broken a number of prominent, statewide stories. While many of those have been picked up by other news outlets – some of them lifted nearly verbatim from APR’s website without attribution – a few stories have gone almost unnoticed and with little follow-up … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter Chanting the much-ballyhooed mantra of “streamlining government, transparency and efficiency,” the administration of Governor Robert Bentley and the Republican-controlled State House have green-lighted, perhaps, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on failed software systems. Last Monday, Bentley’s cabinet secretary for the Office of Information Technology (OIT), Dr. Joanne Hale, … Continued

By Bill Britt Alabama Political Reporter For over a year, Governor Robert Bentley repeatedly received warnings concerning the many technological and systematic failures under the leadership of Acting Finance Director, Bill Newton, and his assistant, Rex McDowell. The time and attendance management system eSTART is just one of several software solutions to fail so badly; … Continued