The governor's plan to improve prison conditions, cited in a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice, runs into two hurdles: time and money.

Gov. Kay Ivey has made building two so-called mega-prisons the focus of her plan to improve living conditions for the state's inmates. She recently told “Capitol Journal” host Todd Stacy that building a second prison “may take longer.”

“I am working closely with legislators on this issue,” Ivey said. “I appropriated $100 million from the budget into the general fund for the Escambia County Jail. We all want a second. We need a second prison, we can't do without it.”

Lawmakers were initially told the two mega-prisons would cost $1.2 billion. The second phase of the plan was to renovate the prison and eventually replace the World War II-era Tutwiler Women's Prison.

A new mega-jail in Elmore County will cost more than $1.2 billion, according to the latest estimates.

“Working with legislators may take a little longer. But we have to get it done,” Ivey told Stacey. “We're monitoring it very closely. We all know we need a second prison. And we're going to find a way to fund it. But… It may take a little longer than I had planned.”

Ivey said shelving plans to build the Escambia County facility, which is estimated to cost $860 million, is not an option.

“We're not just working with[ADOC Commissioner]Jon Hamm, but we've also been hearing from members of Congress, and they've been very responsive. But… We are faced with the facts, costs are increasing, change orders are increasing, so it is very difficult to solve it. But we have to have two modern prisons. We’re going to stick with it.”

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