Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has delayed the deadline by which the two competing developer groups must submit their proposals for how they would build the three new prisons the state has called for.

“Given the unforeseen circumstances associated with COVID-19, it is in the best interest of the state of Alabama to grant this extension so that the developer teams have adequate time to perform required due diligence and to prepare thorough and thoughtful proposals,” said Ivey in a release.

The deadline extension is the latest development in a construction saga now over a year old.

Alabama is under a federal requirement to improve the conditions in its prisons. A federal judge has found that the current state of Alabama’s correctional institutions violated the 8th amendment’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

In February 2019, Governor Ivey announced a plan to build three new prisons for male convicts.

After a year-long process of determining who was qualified and able to accomplish a task of that size, the state is awaiting proposals from two groups composed of several companies each:

• Alabama Prison Transformation Partners (Star America; BL Harbert International; Butler-Cohen; Arrington Watkins Architects; and Johnson Controls, Inc.)
• CoreCivic (CoreCivic; Caddell Construction; DLR Group; and R&N Systems Design)

“The developer teams expressed the need for an extension – due to work and travel restrictions implemented in the wake of this national health crisis – and we fully supported the extension,” said Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) Commissioner Jeff Dunn.

“The spread of COVID-19 has only further demonstrated the critical need for new correctional facilities in Alabama,” he added.

Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: henry@new-yhn.local or on Twitter @HenryThornton95.