A 4,000-bed men’s prison in Elmore County is about 25% complete and is expected to be finished in May 2026, Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm told the Legislature’s prison oversight committee on Tuesday.

Hamm said there is no estimated start time on a second 4,000-bed men’s prison, which is planned for Escambia County. It will be on state-owned property behind the current Fountain Correctional Facility, Hamm said. Negotiations with the designer of that prison are ongoing, Hamm said.

In October 2021, lawmakers approved a plan to spend $1.3 billion for both prisons, but the cost of the one in Elmore County has risen to more than $1 billion.

That means the Legislature will have to appropriate additional funds to build the second prison. Lawmakers have not proposed a full plan for that.

The Elmore County prison will be a specialized facility that will include about 800 beds for medical and mental health care. The prison will house about 600 to 700 minimum security inmates, Hamm said. The remainder of the 4,000 beds will be for medium and maximum security inmates.

Alabama has not built a new prison since the mid-1990s. Gov. Kay Ivey and legislative leaders have said the new prisons are a key part of improving an Alabama prison system that has been overcrowded and understaffed for many years. The U.S. Department of Justice alleges in a lawsuit that the state fails to protect inmates from prisoner-on-prisoner violence, sexual abuse, excessive force by prison staff.

Hamm showed the oversight committee slides, including photos of the Elmore County prison construction and a chart showing a rise in the prison population. The number of inmates has grown from about 18,000 to about 21,000 over the last three years. Hamm said he expects the growth trend to continue.

Hamm noted that three prisons, Kilby, Staton, and Elmore, are scheduled to close a year after the two new ones are completed. A fourth, St. Clair, is slated to close after that.

Rep. Jim Hill, R-Moody, a member of the oversight committee, asked Hamm why the state should close those four prisons considering since the prison population is expected to continue to rise. Hamm noted that the Legislature mandated the closings in the law. Hill noted that lawmakers could change that.

Hamm said the number of corrections officers is growing after years of decline. Pay for correctional officers was increased substantially last year. The ADOC has 365 vacancies out of 2,445 budgeted security staff positions.

Hill asked Hamm if the budgeted positions are an adequate number. Hamm said filling all the budgeted positions was a first goal. But he has acknowledged that ADOC needs more corrections officers than the budgeted number.

Hamm said 62 correctional officer trainees and 78 correctional security guard trainees are scheduled to report to the ADOC’s training academy in Selma on April 14. He said that’s the largest number of trainees he could recall.

The commissioner updated the lawmakers on the prison system’s efforts to stop contraband. He said one important source of contraband is drones that fly over prison property and drop packages that include cellphones, chargers, drugs, and knives.

Hill said he was supportive of drug rehabilitation programs in the prison system and asked if those who complete the programs receive an increased chance of consideration for parole. Hamm said there is no agreement between the ADOC and the Board of Pardons and Paroles that those who complete drug programs receive heightened parole consideration.

Alabama’s rate of paroles has declined sharply over the last few years, a factor in the increase in the prison population.

Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, said the oversight committee met with members of the parole board. Chambliss said he expected to have an update on any discussions with the parole board at the next meeting of the oversight committee in July.