The Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee held a public hearing Wednesday regarding Senate Bill 316, legislation sponsored by State Senator Larry Stutts, R-Sheffield, which aims to increase independent oversight over Alabama’s prison system.
Stutts explained that SB316 would establish the office of “prison oversight coordinator” under the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts to monitor and inspect the treatment of inmates by the Alabama Department of Corrections, ADOC. The prison oversight coordinator would have the ability to access ADOC facilities at any time, and individuals who cooperate with the coordinator would be protected from discrimination or retaliation under Stutts’ bill.
The legislation would also establish a “Corrections Oversight Board” tasked with reviewing the annual inspections, findings, reports and recommendations put forth by the prison oversight coordinator. The board would be composed of: two members of the Alabama Senate; two members of the Alabama House of Representatives; an inmate advocacy group representative; a representative from a group focused on inmate rehabilitation; a licensed physician; a licensed mental health or behavioral health professional; a man formerly incarcerated by ADOC; a woman formerly incarcerated by ADOC; and a family member of a current ADOC inmate.
In addition to these provisions, SB316 would also require the State Bureau of Investigation, SBI, under the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, ALEA, to investigate all reported violations of the law relating to prisons, correctional facilities, and employees and inmates of the Department of Corrections, and would provide a special prosecutor for counties where major ADOC facilities are located.
After the bill’s contents had been explained, the committee welcomed six individuals—five proponents and one opponent—to comment on the legislation.
First to speak was Dr. Robert White, a pastor at the Montgomery City of Refuge church who has also preached at several prisons across the state—an experience which he said brought the need for prison reform and increased oversight to his attention.
“I really think that this bill will shed more sunshine on the situations that we know of, and also I think it’ll give the opportunity for more communication with the public,” White said of his support for SB316.
White added that he believes the legislation would also give Alabama the opportunity to address the issues brought forth by the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the state over its prison conditions.
“Also, I think its positive because, in light of the litigation that’s taken place, I think this would show the DOJ that we are operating in good faith and really want to correct the wrongs,” White said.
White’s only criticism of the bill was that it currently lacks a provision that would require ADOC correctional officers to be placed on administrative leave pending investigation when use of deadly force results in the death of an inmate at an ADOC facility.
Rachel Elledge, a woman who previously served time as an inmate at Julia Tutwiler Prison on a drug distribution charge, also spoke in favor of SB316.
“I think a lot of times people focus on what’s going on in these men’s prisons, but there are women that are living in these same deplorable conditions,” Elledge said.
“I was taken out of a very violent, drug-ridden environment and put into another violent, drug-ridden environment except for this time it was ran by the Alabama Department of Corrections,” she added.
Elledge explained that while she was incarcerated she was never offered any kind of rehabilitative services or education. Additionally, she noted that herself and the other female inmates at Tutwiler went several weeks without toilet paper or access to feminine hygeine products.
Elledge also highlighted the corruption she witnessed among ADOC staff while incarcerated, specifically recalling an instance in which a correctional officer told her that he had put his daughters through college by smuggling drugs into the prison.
“We need some outside oversight on these facilities besides just ADOC…we need help,” Elledge said.
Another proponent of the legislation was Stacy George, a former ADOC correctional officer who worked at both Limestone and St. Clair Correctional Facilities. George also ran two unsuccessful campaigns for public office in 2024—one for Alabama House of Representatives and the other for Alabama Senate.
George explained that during his tenure as an ADOC correctional officer, he witnessed inmates being served food from boxes labeled “not for human consumption” and saw inmates go without access to their prescribed mental health medications. George added that other officers would commonly beat prisoners, which they referred to as a “tune-up.”
“There’s a need to put some eyes in here that’s not attached to [the Investigations & Intelligence Division] who works with ADOC in the same building,” George said.
Tim Mathis, whose son Chase Mathis died while in ADOC custody at Elmore Correctional Facility on June 4, 2024, echoed George and Elledge’s stories of corruption among ADOC staff.
“Extortion is rampant,” Mathis explained to the committee. “You get phone calls that your loved one is going to be raped. They want you to send money on Green Dot cards—and this is not always inmates, I’ve been extorted by officers, and they didn’t care, they would tell you who they were. They wanted $300 or whatever to protect my child or get him transferred.”
Mathis said that he supports SB316 and the oversight it would provide, specifically as a means to increase transparency between ADOC and the public.
“The system provides no one any type of information when [their loved one dies in ADOC custody],” Mathis said. “I couldn’t find out where his body was, I couldn’t find where his body was being taken.”
Mathis went on to explain that despite calling ADOC Commissioner John Hamm’s office every day for around three months after his son’s death, he was never able to reach the commissioner and was instead told that he would be “treated as a terrorist threat” if he tried visiting the ADOC offices.
“I’m going to be at every meeting y’all have concerning this prison system,” Mathis told the committee. “It has got to have some kind of outside oversight. The ‘good ole boy’ system is alive and well in there.”
The final proponent to speak at Wednesday’s hearing was Sylvia Wright, whose son is a current inmate at William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility.
“SB316 is not just another bill,” Wright said. “It is a plea for truth, where truth has been hidden for too many years.”
“We lose lives every week,” she added. “The drugs are rampant, the officers see that.”
The only opponent to speak against SB316 was Sam Adams, a representative from ALEA , who voiced concerns with the bill’s requirement that the agency investigate “all reported and discovered violations” related to Alabama’s prisons.
“This is something that would significantly expand our investigative responsibilities at ALEA…we estimate we’d have to hire at least 60 additional special agents to handle this tremendous case load,” Adams told the committee.
“More importantly, this is outside of the traditional free-world investigations that our staff and our leadership conduct,” he continued. “And so, that would have to have extensive training in order to do these investigations, because they involve different case law, different statutes, different constitutional elements.”
Adams argued that assigning investigative responsibility to ALEA would expose the agency to “additional litigation from past and future cases that go forth before the ADOC.”
“All these efforts would divert from our core public safety functions that we have at ALEA,” Adams said.
Following the public hearing, Senate Judiciary Chairman Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, thanked the proponents of the legislation for making their voices heard.
“I want to tell the folks who have come up and spoke in favor of the legislation that we truly appreciate you being here,” Barfoot said. “There are members on this committee, members throughout the legislative body, that have heard you not only today, but in the past.”
Senator Stutts also reiterated his commitment to passing the legislation this session, arguing that the benefits of its provisions far outweigh its associated financial costs.
“I understand there’s expenses involved, but we’ve spent millions and millions of dollars settling lawsuits with the Department of Corrections [and] we have others pending,” Stutts said. “The cost is not the issue, it’s humane treatment, it’s accountability, it’s transparency, and those are the issues I hope to address.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee will reconvene for a special meeting on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. to vote on SB316. If it passes, the bill will then head to the Senate floor for further consideration.
