MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – Alabama lawmakers say they have questions about Gov. Kay Ivey’s proposal to lease three mega-prisons built by private companies as a partial solution to the state’s ongoing prison crisis.
The governor’s administration is pursuing a plan to hire private companies to build the three prisons which would then be leased back to the state and run by the Department of Corrections.
Republican legislative leaders said they are not objecting to the proposal at this time but want to make sure the leases do not become a drain on the state’s budget.
“We have questions. Locations? Cost?” House Speaker Mac McCutcheon said. “There’s still a lot of questions out there that need to be answered and we’re working with the governor’s office on that.”
The U.S. Justice Department last year said violent and crowded conditions in Alabama prisons violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The Justice Department said understaffing and overcrowding were a primary driver of the violence, but also mentioned the need to improve facility conditions.