On Wednesday, the Alabama House Health Committee passed Senate Bill 84, legislation that would grant the Alabama Department of Public Health, ADPH, the authority to inspect and improve sanitation conditions in cafeterias and other food services within Alabama’s jails and prisons.
The bill’s sponsor, State Senator Larry Stutts, R-Sheffield, said that he was inspired to introduce the legislation after he became aware that the kitchen at Julia Tutwiler Prison in Wetumpka had gone several months without access to hot water.
“I had an issue called to my attention that at Tutwiler Prison they went for weeks and weeks without hot water in the kitchen,” Stutts explained. “I contacted some people about it, it still took a considerable period of time for it to be fixed. I contacted the Alabama Department of Public Health and asked them ‘do you have the authority to inspect the Department of Corrections’ food services?’ and the answer was ‘we have the authority to inspect it, but we don’t have the authority to do anything about it, we simply report it to the warden.’ So that’s the issue that this bill is trying to address.”
“Every person that I’ve talked to, their reaction has been ‘you mean they don’t already do that?'” Stutts added. “Everyone just assumes that they do, and they don’t.”
SB84 specifically states that the diet of inmates incarcerated by the Alabama Department of Corrections, ADOC, “shall be prepared and served subject to the standards established by the Alabama Department of Public Health.” The bill also gives ADPH the authority to “enforce existing rules that govern food service establishments which may also be applied to facilities operated by the Department of Corrections or a county or municipality.”
Additionally, the legislation would direct ADPH to adopt rules specific to food service establishments operated by ADOC or county and municipal jails, and to “to ensure the sanitary conditions of food storage, preparation, and service.” To that end, ADPH would be charged with inspecting ADOC food services, identifying sanitary violations, issuing sanitation scores, and prescribing corrective actions whenever applicable.
After adopting a few technical amendments, the committee quickly voted to pass the bill. SB84 will now head to the House floor for further consideration.
If passed into law, the bill’s provisions would take effect on October 1, 2026.
