MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The number of assaults inside Alabama’s prisons, while still among the highest in the country, decreased by more than 11% during the first three months of fiscal year 2024 when compared to the same period in 2023.
At the same time, the rate at which eligible inmates were granted parole increased to an average of 17%, up significantly from the 9% parole grant rate seen during the first three months of 2023.
The fiscal year began in October and as of Dec. 31, 2023, there were 446 documented assaults inside Alabama’s prisons, 339 of which were reported as inmate-on-inmate assaults, and 107 as inmate-on-staff, per the latest monthly report from the Alabama Department of Corrections. Staff-on-inmate assaults are not included in ADOC’s monthly reports.
The 11.2% decrease in prison assaults when compared to the first three months of 2023 marks a strong reversal compared to previous years, with the entirety of 2023 seeing a 41% increase in prison assaults when compared to 2022.
Factors contributing to Alabama’s violent prison conditions are numerous, though crowding and prison understaffing are two of the most frequently cited.
Today, all of Alabama’s prisons combined are designed for an inmate capacity of 12,115. As of Dec. 31, the state had an inmate population of 20,497, more than 8,000 over capacity.
Data on staffing is only published quarterly, with 2024’s first quarterly report having yet to be published.
At least as of Sept. 21, however, ADOC Commissioner John Hamm told lawmakers his agency was more than a thousand correctional officers short, though recent pay increases for correctional officers may see that number change dramatically in ADOC’s next quarterly report.
Another factor often cited as a reason for Alabama’s violent and crowded prison conditions is the state’s low parole grant rate. Much like assaults, parole grant rates also saw statistically significant improvement in the first three months of fiscal 2024.
In 2017, the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles granted parole to 55% of inmates up for consideration for release. Since then, however, the state’s parole grant rate has fallen every year, dropping to a record low of 8% for 2023, where the board granted parole to 312 of 3,791 eligible inmates.
The first three months of fiscal 2023 saw an average parole grant rate of 9%, not far off from the year’s total of 8%. For the first three months of 2024, the parole grant rate nearly doubled to 17%, which, if maintained throughout the year, would represent the first year in more than seven in which the parole grant rate did not decrease.
While a marked improvement, the 17% parole grant rate was still far below the board’s own recommended grant rate for that period of 84%, a rate derived from guidelines adopted by the board in 2020.
Proposals to reform the state’s parole board have largely come from Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, who in December, refiled a bill requiring its members to either follow said guidelines, or produce a written report explaining the reason for deviation. First introduced in 2023, the bill ultimately failed to pass out of the House Judiciary Committee.
One of the bill’s initial opponents, Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, has told Alabama Daily News that he intends to again vote against the bill this year, citing a 2022 report from the Alabama Sentencing Commission that identifies 83% of incarcerated Alabamians to be violent offenders.
That 83% figure has been a matter of dispute, however, given ADOC’s own report in 2022 instead identifying 67.5% of inmates to be violent offenders, with the discrepancy attributed to a difference in the criteria for an inmate to be considered a violent offender.
A 2020 Justice Department lawsuit that could see the federal government take control of Alabama’s prison system has seen state leaders pour hundreds of millions of dollars into trying to resolve the issue, including the commitment of more than $1 billion to construct a 4,000-bed prison. A second mega prison is planned, but state leaders haven’t yet secured its funding.
“We all know we need the second prison, and we’re going to find a way to fund it, but it may take a little bit more time than we have planned on,” Ivey told Capitol Journal’s Todd Stacy last week. “We’re all facing facts, and costs have escalated. It’s a big nut to crack, but we’re going to stick with it because we’ve got to have two modern prisons.”