MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority on Thursday approved the construction contract for the second planned new men’s prison, but House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter – one of the most powerful figures in state politics – is calling for the governor to halt the project.
Immediately after the authority vote, Ledbetter released a letter calling on Gov. Kay Ivey to halt construction on the Escambia County prison and conduct a full investigation into the over-budget and delayed construction on the separate Gov. Kay Ivey Correctional Complex in Elmore County.
ACIFA, the state body in charge of funding new prisons, voted 6-1 to move forward with construction on the Escambia project. The vote comes after the group moved on Oct. 6 to issue more than $190 million in bonds to fund the second prison, which brings the total cost of the Escambia facility close to $1 billion.
The Alabama Legislature passed legislation authorizing $1.2 billion for two new prison facilities in 2021, which included borrowing up to $785 million and the use of $400 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.
The 4,000-bed Elmore Specialized Men’s Facility, the first to be built under the legislation, is more than $500 million over budget and about a year behind schedule.
Because of the ballooning cost of the first facility, the start of construction on the Escambia County facility has been delayed and the financing has required additional bonding.
Ledbetter in the letter called continuing on the second facility without investigating what happened during “the failed construction” of the first one a “fundamental irresponsibility.”
“Committing taxpayers to another major financial obligation under these circumstances, without first addressing the cost overruns, delays, and apparent failures in project management, is an unacceptable risk to public funds and a failure of fiscal accountability,” Ledbetter wrote. “To make matters worse, you will be exiting office in less than three months, leaving the next administration to clean up the mess.”
Ivey did not respond directly to Ledbetter’s letter but called the ACIFA vote a “major, positive step” in a statement. The governor said her administration has been committed to protecting taxpayer dollars while advancing the prison projects “in a fiscally responsible way.”
“While I cannot speak for others, I am someone who refuses to kick the can down the road,” Ivey said in a statement. “We are doing not only what is now required by law but also what is right and necessary. I am proud we are officially moving forward with construction on this second facility. Public safety is a priority for my Administration and the Legislature, and I am proud of what we accomplished together.”
The House speaker said he met with Ivey’s staff and Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Greg Lovelace on July 20 and was informed that the Elmore County facility named after Ivey wouldn’t be completed until “between March and May 2027.”
Lawmakers had previously said the facility would be completed by Oct. 15, five months later than initial estimates, but the ADOC in July told Alabama Daily News that it had “reasonable concerns” the facility would not be finished by its deadline. The ADOC announced earlier this month that contractors did not meet the deadline but said the facility was 85% complete.
Ledbetter said that during his July meeting, he learned that “the management of the project had descended into a complete and total chaotic mess.”
“It was clear during that meeting that ADOC had essentially lost all control and was more or less afraid to push too hard on the contractor, Caddell Construction, out of fear that they might walk away from the project altogether,” Ledbetter wrote in the letter.
Caddell Construction owes the state of Alabama $14.2 million in “contractual liquidated damages” because of the missed deadline. If the company doesn’t complete the project by Nov. 16, it owes an additional $7.1 million in damages, the ADOC said in a statement earlier this month.
In reference to the ACIFA meeting, Ledbetter said that “legislative leadership has not been given the opportunity to review a single change order or site rendering” and did not know what the Legislature was being asked to pay for.
“What is disappointing is that, despite having a long and well-documented list of reasons, you have ignored every request from the Legislature to press pause on the construction of the Escambia County facility,” Ledbetter wrote.
ACIFA submitted public notice about the Thursday meeting just over 24 hours before it was scheduled to begin, which Ledbetter called “the opposite of transparency.”
Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Range, who sits on the board, shared a similar characterization as Ivey. He said the state has been methodical in implementing the plan approved by the Legislature to build the facilities.
Albritton said he was disappointed that Ledbetter wrote the letter and said he views things differently.
“The homework on this, the prison projects here, have been looked at, dealt with, discussed, fussed at for years,” Albritton said. “I don’t know that there was anything criminally done. I believe that everything was done dealing with inflation, with markets, with costs that went up, with all kinds of other matters that came into play. But as far as a failure, I think we have a prison almost completed. What is it? Eighty-five, 90% complete. That doesn’t sound like a failure. Sounds like some errors, possibly, but using the term failure is a little bit strong.”
Carla Crowder, executive director of criminal justice advocacy organization Alabama Appleseed, called Ledbetter a “voice of reason in the prison construction debacle” and applauded his response.
“Alabama taxpayers have already poured $1 billion into what Speaker Ledbetter now calls a ‘complete and total chaotic mess.’ How does this end?” Crowder said in a statement. “Who can we trust to oversee the opening of the prison? The staffing? Moving 4,000 people into the prison? If construction of a 4,000-bed prison has been a chaotic mess, do we trust the same people who created the mess and are about to be in court defending themselves against a massive federal lawsuit over unconstitutional conditions?”