The Alabama Senate on Tuesday approved legislation that will allow the state to borrow up to $500 million more to complete construction of two mega-prisons.
The money will be raised through a bond issue, although it’s unclear if the state will need to borrow the full amount. If it does, it will raise the total cost of the two prisons – once projected to be $1.3 billion – to at least more than $1.9 billion.
At a committee hearing last week, the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Greg Albritton, said construction of the first prison, which is located in Elmore County, is on track and set to be completed next year. That prison will cost the state more than $1.2 billion alone.
Construction on the second facility, located in Escambia County, has not started. Albritton said that the state has secured enough funding to complete “about 60 percent” of the project.
“… frankly, we don’t have the money to finish,” Albritton told the committee last week.
Approval of the additional funds was expected, since the state has committed itself to the project, which lawmakers approved in 2021. At the time, the Elmore prison was projected to cost just $623 million. The senate voted 32-0 on Tuesday to pass the legislation.
The new prisons will not increase the number of beds available in the state, since at least three current facilities are set to close once the prisons are built. But officials have repeatedly insisted that the new facilities will address many issues with safety and security and provide more areas for inmate training.
