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| Alabama prison chief faces budget cuts |
| By blog.al.com - Brian Lawson, The Huntsville Times |
| Published: 06/14/2012 |
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MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- The Alabama prison system has more than 25,000 inmates in its custody. That growing population already puts its 29 facilities about 193 percent over capacity. Through converting gymnasium, dining and industrial space and doubling up beds, the system keeps stretching to ensure everybody fits. Even with the tough conditions - two guards can at times be responsible for supervising 300 inmates - the system could face a steep budget cut in the next fiscal year. Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Kim Thomas visited The Times on Monday to discuss the system, the recent reports of guards sexually abusing inmates at Tutwiler Prison for Women and the department's budget challenges. Thomas declined to comment on what steps the department would take - such as the possibility of releasing nonviolent inmates - if a constitutional amendment set for a referendum Sept. 18 fails. The measure would transfer $437 million to the state's general fund, to shore up the state budget for three years, from a natural gas royalty fund. The department's current budget for the next fiscal year is $365 million, down $16 million from the year before, Thomas said. If the amendment fails, the state prison system is facing an additional $31 million cut for next year's budget. Meanwhile, he predicts, given current laws for habitual offenders, incarceration rates will continue to rise past 27,000 inmates by 2015. Yet the state hasn't built a new prison since 1998, said Thomas. Thomas, a 29-year veteran of the state corrections system, became commissioner in January 2011 after serving as six years as general counsel. He started in 1983 as a corrections officer, working inside a prison in St. Clair County before attending law school. Read More. |
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