Alabama House Speaker Seeks Halt to Second Prison Over $635 Million Overrun at First Facility

Nathaniel Ledbetter, the Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives, asked Governor Kay Ivey to stop construction on the state's second new men's prison on Thursday. The request was sent by email hours before the Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority was scheduled to vote on funding for the project in Escambia County. Ledbetter also called for a full investigation into the first facility, which is located in Elmore County.

The Speaker noted that the finance authority meeting was called only two days prior. He stated that legislative leaders had not received a single change order or site rendering before the vote. Ledbetter wrote that this lack of documentation made it impossible to determine exactly what the state was being asked to pay for. He described the situation as the opposite of transparency.

Background on the first prison reveals a timeline that has slipped significantly. During a meeting on July 20, Ledbetter met with members of the Governor's staff and Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Greg Lovelace. The group discussed the status of the Governor Kay Ivey Correctional Complex. The completion date, originally set for October 2026, was pushed back to a window between March and May 2027.

Ledbetter told the governor's team that the management of the Elmore project had become a chaotic mess. He said the department had lost control of the contractor, Caddell Construction. He noted that ADOC feared pushing the contractor too hard might cause them to walk away from the project entirely. The department announced on October 16 that Caddell missed its final deadline. As a result, the authority is withholding $14.2 million in liquidated damages. The complex is currently 85% complete.

The Elmore facility is more than $635 million over budget. Ledbetter told the governor's staff on July 20 and in subsequent conversations that he opposed moving forward with the Escambia County site while the first facility remained delayed. He argued that the governor ignored the legislature's requests to press pause on the second construction site. The finance authority approved up to $195 million in new bonds for the Escambia prison in August.

Those bonds sold on October 6 for $190,190,000. The Alabama Department of Finance identified the buyer on Wednesday as Regions Capital Advantage, a division of Regions Bank. Ledbetter pointed out that the finance authority is filled with executive branch officials who answer directly to the governor. Ivey and Commissioner Lovelace sit on the body alongside State Senator Greg Albritton and other legislators. The second prison is projected to cost close to $1 billion. The total cost for both prisons is expected to exceed $2 billion.

The state legislature authorized $1.3 billion for both facilities in 2021. Ledbetter argued that committing taxpayers to another major financial obligation without first addressing the cost overruns and delays at the first site is an unacceptable risk. He noted that Ivey will exit the office in less than three months. He said this leaves the next administration to clean up the financial and logistical issues. The Speaker made two specific requests in his letter to the governor.

Ledbetter asked Ivey to halt construction of the second facility to do what is best for the people of Alabama. He also called for a full investigation to explain what happened during the failed construction of the first facility. He acknowledged that Alabama needs new prisons but stated that the current approach is not the right way to build them.