The main building of Holman Correctional Facility, a close-security prison in Atmore, will be closed and 617 inmates will be sent to other state prisons, Alabama Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn said. The decision was made because maintenance crews were struggling daily to maintain sewer and electrical systems housed in a tunnel running beneath the main prison building at the 51-year-old prison, Dunn said. There has been a national spotlight on troubled prison systems in Alabama and Mississippi because of deadly violence and unsanitary conditions. Kay Ivey weighs a proposal to close most state prisons and replace them with three new mega-prisons. Dunn said the decision to close the prison was not related to the construction proposal, but Holman illustrates the problems in the system.

Source: thestar January 29, 2020 19:15 UTC