By Bob Johnson, Associated Press
Montgomery, AL – Alabama's prisons are extremely overcrowded and understaffed and the department cannot cut its budget without risking the release of inmates, Corrections Commissioner Richard Allen told legislators Thursday.
Allen, appearing at a legislative budget hearing, said Alabama is 49th in the country in spending for prisoners, with the state spending about $39 a day per prisoner in 2007.
Allen joined other department heads in telling legislators the disastrous effects that could result from budget cuts, which are expected in many agencies due to the downturn in the economy.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb said if state courts are forced to cut their budget by 10 percent, 700 employees would lose their jobs statewide.
State Health Officer Don Williamson said budget cuts could force reductions in programs to provide medicine to AIDS patients and prenatal care to pregnant women.
Gov. Bob Riley has ordered most state agencies to cut their budgets by 10 percent for the current fiscal year. But Riley said he didn't impose that on corrections because of its problems.
Allen told lawmakers it would be impossible to cut the budget for prisons by 10 percent without releasing inmates and closing facilities.
Allen said there are currently more than 25,000 inmates in a system built to house about 13,000. He said a new prison has not been built in Alabama since 1992.
Allen said it's remarkable there has not been a major incident in Alabama prisons since a 1985 riot at the St. Clair Correctional Facility. He said that's despite having as many as 200 to 300 inmates in some prison dormitories with only one or two corrections officers to guard them.
He said some of the credit goes to the hard work of corrections officers and other staff.
"And by and large the inmates are well-behaved. Most want to serve their time and get out," he said.
But he said corrections officers continue to fight a constant battle to keep out prison contraband, including cell phones, which he said in recent years have become "a high-value item in prison."
Allen asked lawmakers to consider prison overcrowding when they pass new laws aimed at "getting tough on crime." He said there are currently 536 crimes that are considered felonies in Alabama, including 67 that have been added to the books since 2001.
"Every felony you add brings a requirement for more beds in Alabama prisons," he said.