Officials say a state prison in Alabama's troubled corrections system will be largely shut down because of infrastructure problems that were the culmination of years of neglect.
Alabama Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn announced the plan Wednesday. He says 617 inmates at Holman Correctional Facility at Atmore will be sent to other state prisons. Dunn says the decision was made because maintenance crews were struggling daily to maintain sewer and electrical systems housed beneath the main prison building.
There has been a national spotlight on prison systems in Alabama and Mississippi because of deadly violence and unsanitary conditions.