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T’ville vies for new women’s prison Thomasville is one of four municipalities in the state that have expressed an interest in having a new women’s state prison, Alabama’s prison commissioner stated recently. The Montgomery Advertiser reported last week that Commissioner Richard Allen said he’d like to see a replacement for the aging Tutwiler Prison for Women by 2008 and said four cities have expressed an interest: Gordo, in Pickens County, west of Tuscaloosa; Brundidge, in Pike County, south of Troy; Livingston, in Sumter County, near the Mississippi line; and Thomasville. Mayor has met with Riley, others Thomasville Mayor Sheldon Day confirmed that he has been promoting Thomasville to correctional officials for at least two years now. “I met some time ago with Gov. [Bob] Riley, the prison commissioner and his entire hierarchy, finance director Jim Mann and others in the governor’s office for one and a half hours talking about various alternatives,” Day said. Day said he did not realize the municipalities were going to be publicized now but said he was not trying to hide his promotion of Thomasville. He said the corrections system has a lot of work to do before a decision on a new prison is made. Allen stated as much in his interview, saying a study should be completed by January and will include research on the feasibility of housing female inmates in private prisons. Alabama currently has almost 400 female inmates incarcerated in a private prison in Louisiana. 2,000 capacity prison likely If the study shows a need for a new prison, it would likely be built for a population of 2,000 female inmates. That is the number of female prisoners currently held by the state. Tutwiler, in Wetumpka, dates to 1942 and houses less than half that number. LIFE Tech has helped relations Day said the state is going to have to look at new prisons for both men and women. He said the city’s involvement with creating the new LIFE Tech Transition Center for male parolees in Thomasville helped acquaint correctional officials with the city. Day said he isn’t ready to divulge all of the details but suggested that the city could contract to build a prison privately and lease it to the state. He said bonds, similar to industrial development bonds, would fund the construction. He said Clarke County officials were aware of the discussions but did not say if the county would be involved if the project is developed. 150 acres needed A prison would require about 150 acres and Day said he had a few parcels of property in mind, adding that they were not in populated areas. “A prison is a clean industry and provides good jobs,” Day explained. Tutwiler employs 300 state and contract workers. Day said security should not be a concern. “I’ve talked with Mayor [Howard] Shell in Atmore [where Holman Prison is located] and he said they never have any problems.” An economic boost A prison would boost Thomasville’s and the area’s economy. Day said that motels, restaurants, supplier companies and more would benefit.
Day cautioned that discussions are only preliminary right now and that the state has a lot of homework to do in deciding if a new facility is to be built at all, let alone where it would be located.
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