So now that 2 of the 3 deals were signed this morning, let’s talk prisons. Over the next few days, we are going to hear several things that just aren’t true. Bottom line, this is a bad plan that is going to create generational debt. Also, it will not fix our issues.

We aren’t buying anything. After spending over 3 billion dollars, we won’t own the land or the prisons. At the end of the lease agreement, we are going to have to decide whether or not to purchase them or pay whoever owns them at that time to continue to maintain them.

This is not a 30 year lease. It is a series 1 year lease agreements that will have to be renegotiated every year. Once we close old facilities and put our prisoners into the new facilities, our new landlord will have all the leverage in future negotiations.

This plan will not increase bed space. Once the new prisons open, most of the old ones will close. As soon as we cut the ribbon on the new prisons, they will be severely overcrowded and likely understaffed. 3 billion dollars invested in new buildings with the same old problems.

We are supposed to be paying for this with money saved from closing old facilities and reducing personnel into consolidated facilities. Don’t believe the hype. The numbers don’t work. The “savings” mentioned are based on things that we can’t possibly know.

For example, how you do create projected “savings” based on closing facilities when you haven’t identified which facilities are going to be closed and which ones are to remain in service? There is already over a billion dollars in deferred maintenance in the old prisons.

Remember when the Commissioner told everyone that it was going to be 88 million a year? Yep, I do too. Well, that’s not right. It is actually 94 million a year. By the way, that’s a floor, not a ceiling. The lease payment will increase every year for the next 30 years.

By the way, does it bother you that anyone can spend 3 billion dollars in what has to be the most non-transparent way possible? Gov. Ivey signed this lease today and most of the general public, including your elected representatives, have no idea what the terms of the deal are.

There is no plan for Tutwiler. The oldest most dilapidated prison in Alabama is not a part of this 3 billion dollar arrangement. So, if we ever get around to creating humane conditions for the women in Tutwiler, we will likely have to borrow even more money.

If the State was to borrow the money and do this ourselves, we would have enough money to not only build three new prisons, but also build a new Tutwiler with additional revenue left over. The state borrowing the money could potentially save Alabama a billion dollars.

This 3 billion lease is coming out of our general fund budget. Therefore, that means less money for re-entry programs, drug treatment, job training, and other things that are proven to reduce recidivism. Apparently though, we would much rather invest in buildings than our people.

Currently, our prison system is being horribly mismanaged. Building new prisons is not going to change the fact that we are struggling to deal with the old ones. To illustrate this point, take a look at this ADOC report from a few years ago.

Spending per prisoner has increased from $27.92 in 2003 to $64.01 in 2019. Commissioner Dunn testified that it is now 79.45 per day during budget hearings last week. Ask yourself this question, what exactly are paying for? We have been paying much more but the results are worse.

All we have seen since 2003, especially since 2015 when Commissioner Dunn was appointed, is more lawsuits, more abuse, more violence, more corruption, and more people dying. Considering that, do we really want to give him even more money? Seriously?

Although this deal is supposed to be 30 years, do we really believe that CoreCivic is going to be around that long? By the time maintenance costs kick in and the profit margins shrink, there is no telling who our landlord will be. Based on their recent history, it won’t be them.

Bottom line, this is a terrible idea. There are so many other things that we can spend 3 billion dollars on. I continue to stress that we need to invest in our people instead of prisons. The return on our investment will worth so much more. #InvestInPeople #NoNewPrisons