The Decatur Daily
MONTGOMERY — Fifteen existing men’s state prisons, including the one in Limestone County, will be evaluated to decide which two will remain open under a plan to build four larger prisons.
Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn on Wednesday said the process of building the new facilities and consolidating most existing ones would take about five years.
A process for determining which prisons would remain open has not been determined.
Gov. Robert Bentley wants lawmakers to approve an $800 million bond issue to fund the proposal proponents said will make the prison system safer and more cost effective.
But some at a public hearing Wednesday questioned the state’s proposal to include design and construction in the same project bid. Several lawmakers said there is little room for fiscal error in the proposal.
Sen. Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison, told Dunn the Madison County jail is a lesson in what not to do. It was over budget.
Others questioned whether the state’s plan to use savings from the consolidation, estimated at about $50 million a year, will pay off the bond issue.
“I have concerns about paying a bond off with money that is saved by the government; the government doesn’t save money,” said Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Range.
Several representatives from the building industry questioned the proposal to let one company handle both design and construction of the prisons. They said it wasn’t a transparent or cost-effective process and would limit competition.
Bentley was at the Statehouse on Tuesday to rally support for the bill, saying combining the design and construction was the most efficient way to move forward.
There was no vote Wednesday in committee, but at least some lawmakers seemed to hear the concerns of builders.
Sen. Paul Sanford, R-Huntsville, said he normally favors design/build contracts. But for the large prisons, “The size and the scope of this project concerns me.”
The DOC plan calls for building three men’s prisons in the north, central and south regions of the state, but sites haven’t been determined. The state’s existing women’s prison also would be shut down and replaced under Bentley’s plan.
Holtzclaw asked if they would be built on land the state now owns.
State Finance Director Bill Newton said officials think local governments will be interested in being home to a new prison and would donate the land.
Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, asked what would become of the shuttered prisons and their property. Dunn said the hope is if there is any value in the properties, they could be sold to offset some of the bond cost.
Sen. Billy Beasley, D-Clayton, said closing prisons in his district would have a “devastating” impact on the local economy.
Another topic of concern: Bentley’s proposal calls for a secondary pledge of a 1-mill property tax that currently goes to the departments of Veterans Affairs and Human Resources. It’s worth about $50 million a year.
Newton said the pledge was needed to secure a lower bond rating and state officials are “100 percent comfortable” DOC will be able to repay the bond.
Holtzclaw, though, was concerned about the other two agencies.
“There is angst with me that it is going to put (the department of human resources and veterans affairs) at risk,” Holtzclaw said.
Dunn and others have said the prisons are needed to replace the aging and unsafe prisons that are crowded and understaffed. To emphasize his point, he said he’d today be going to visit in the hospital a corrections officer stabbed by an inmate earlier this week.
In December, DOC’s facilities, including work-release centers, had a capacity rate of about 182 percent. Limestone’s was about 133 percent, according to a DOC monthly report. Total systemwide staffing was at about 60 percent, but Limestone’s was slightly higher at 67 percent.
A committee vote on the legislation is expected next week. A House version of the bill still is in committee.
Copyright 2016 The Decatur Daily