Report comes as three Donaldson prison sergeants face charges and the Justice Department prepares to take Alabama to court over prison conditions
By SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
Alabama’s own auditors say the state’s prison system is hard to hold accountable, and in a few weeks, a federal judge in Huntsville will hear why the U.S. Justice Department believes it is unconstitutional.
The Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts released a 367-page audit of the Department of Corrections’ central office and Kilby Correctional Facility in Mt. Meigs on Nov. 6, 1819 News reported.
“There appears to be an underlying sense of secrecy within the agency, whether perceived or actual,” the auditors wrote. Examiners had to route records requests through the department’s legal division and issue a subpoena to obtain documents, according to the report.
The audit landed the same week the department announced that three sergeants at Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer were charged with failure of duty. Supervisors had advance warning of an Oct. 25 attack on an inmate by other inmates and did not act to protect him, WAKA reported. Sgts. Neicko White, Michael Underwood and Devontay Jackson each had bond set at $3,000.
Kilby held 1,389 people on the day inspectors visited, more than three times its design capacity of 440, the Alabama Reflector reported. Inspectors documented dirty dorms, mold and inadequate cleaning supplies. Auditors received 58 survey responses from people held there.
Corrections Commissioner Greg Lovelace said the department does not agree with every conclusion. “Disagreement should not be mistaken for resistance to oversight,” he said.
The audit arrives as the Justice Department prepares for trial in its lawsuit alleging Alabama fails to protect people in its men’s prisons from violence and sexual abuse. The trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 30 in Huntsville, WSFA reported.
Speakin’ Out News will cover the trial.
All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.