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OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

ROBERT BENTLEY

STATE C APITOL
MONTGOMERY, A LABAMA 36130
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GOVERNOR

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(334) 242-7100
FAX: (334) 242-3282

STATE OF ALABAMA
March 22, 2016

TO:

Members of the Alabama Legislature:

RE:

Alab ama Prison Tran sformation Initiative (SB287 by Senator Trip Pittman and HB3 13 by
Repr esentative Steve Clouse)

As you con sider the proposal to transform Alabama's prison system and solve a problem that has
plagued our state for decades, we wanted to provide you with additional information on the
legislation. Specifically, we wanted to highlight how we intend to accomplish this task without new
General Fund revenue for construction.
By buildin g one new facility for wome n, and three new facilitie s for men, we have the opportunity
to slam the door shut on Tutwiler, and address the growing prob lems related to overcrowding in our
men's facilities by consolidating 14 prisons into 6.
Savings generated from this consolidation, as detailed in the attached document, will be adequate to
pay the debt service on the bond issue for construction, and will not require an increased
appropriation for the Department of Corrections for construction expenses.
We strongly encourage you to vote "Yes" on SB287/HB313.
Thank you for your consideration on this important matter and for your service to the State of
Alabama.

62c,L.:t-B
Robert Bentle y
Governor

Je2!!~eron

Alabama Department of Corrections

Acting Finance Director

Associate Commissioner for Administration

Services, Alabama Department of Corrections

Alabama Prison Transformation Initiative

Senate Bill 287 (Pittman) J House Bill 313 (Clouse)

Problem:

For decades, Alabama's prisons have become increasingly overcrowded , costly to taxpayers
and dangerous to both inmates and our corrections officers.

Solution:

Build three new 4,000-bed regional men's prisons and one 1,200-bed women's prison
Results in the consolidation of 14 existing prisons into 6
Estimated annual savings of $50 million from consolidation will be used to pay off $800
million construction bond issue over 30 years with no additional spending from the State
General Fund

Strategy using Design-Build:

Streamlined construction process called Design-Build
o Allows the State to pursue the most cost-efficient option for the state.
o Ensures the project is completed on time.
o Authorized in 39 other states, and allowed for limited use in 9 others - except Alabama.
o Federal government relies exclusively on Design-Build for building federal prisons
o Average cost savings of 6 percent to 10 percent when using Design-Build
o Another deliver y method would result in an estimated $50 million more in construction
costs.
o Project s may be completed up to 30 percent faster than projects built using other
methods.
o If this project takes a year longer using other construction methods , we lose an
additional $50 million from lost operational savings by closing existing facilities a year
later.
Amendments:
The Governor's Office is working with bill sponsor s and other interested legislators to amend
the bill to ensure Alabama-based and minority companies are given preference for working
on this proiect .
Final Results:
Reduce overcrowding from 188 percent to 125 percent , in combination with anticipated
reduction in overcrowding resulting from prison reform legislation enacted in 2015.
Staffing requirements in new state-of-the-art facilities are as much as half of those required
operating current facilities, allowing the department to meet safe manning levels while
achieving significant manpower savings.

Operational Savings Generated by the Alabama Prison Transformation Initiative

Personnel cost savings through reduction in overtime and economies of scale:

The majority of Alabama's prisons were built over 30 years ago and require intensive manpower to
properly monitor and supervise inmates. New state of the a11regional prisons equipped with camera
systems and properly designed to manage varying custody levels of inmates , require smaller staffs.
Coup led with manpower savings achieved through consolidation, the ADOC anticipates being able to
operate the new facilities with a slightly smaller staffs than we currently have.
The ADOC cunently has 65 percent of its needed security staffing. Security staffing models used to operate
newly designed facilities would not only resolve our critical shortage of correctional officers but wou ld
allow us to actually reduce this staff by roughly 5 percent (160 positions). Staff reductions will be achieved
through attrition. The average cost per employee , including salary and benefits, is roughly $50,000. This
will generate a savings of roughly $8 million.
Consolidation of prisons allows for consolidation of suppo11functions. Fewer staff will be needed for
administration , business office operations, facility maintenance, inmate meal preparation, etc. We
anticipate a reduction of roughly 20 percent (190 positions). Staff reductions will be achieved through
attrition. With an average cost per employee of $50,000, including salary and benefits, this will generate
roughly $9.5 million in savings.
Due to our security staff shortages we depend heavily on overtime to fill a number of our security posts. In
addition , we operate on 12 hour shifts which require the use of overtime as a consequence of the long week
(48 hours) during each pay period. Overtime cost currently runs $32 million in salary and benefits. The
reduced security staffing requirements associated with state of the art regional prisons will allow ADOC to
elimin ate much of the need for overtime. We anticipate a 66 percent , or roughly $2 1 million , reduction.
Staffing model s for a newly constructed conectional facility with 4,000 beds requires an inmate to officer
ratio of approximate ly 14.5 to 1 (275 officers). ADOC's current staffing model is an officer-to-inmate
ration of 11.4 to 1 (350 officers). However , the current model is supplemented with overtime, effective ly
adding 85 full-time equivalents . With overtime, the current effective officer-to -inmate ration is 9.2 to I
(435 officers).

Inmate Medical Contract:

ADOC currently contracts with CORIZON and MHM Correctional Services to provide inmate healthcare .
Annual cost for FY16 is expected to approximate $101 million. Consolidation of 14 major facilities into 3
regiona l facilities will generate savings based on stream lining access and delivery of healthcare. This will
result in cost reduction of roughly 10 percent , or $10.1 million, associated with the consolidation of
medical services.
Under the current medical contract, there are 500 full-time equivalent (FTE) contract employees supporting
28 facilities.
Consolidation of 13 major faci lities (cunently requiring 325 contract full-time employees) into 3 regional
facil ities (requires 80 contract full-time employees) provides a reduction of 85 contract employees (17
percent of the overall 500 full-time employees in the contract).

Miscellaneous:
Insurance, custodial, supplies, inmate food, tran sportation , elimination of leased beds, utilitie s, fuel, etc.,
are expected to reduce costs by $1.6 million.