On Tuesday, the Alabama Senate County and City Government Committee voted to give a favorable report to SB322, a bill that would create a new oversight position at the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC), sponsored by state Sen. Clyde Chambliss (R-Platteville).

Senator Chambliss is the chairman of the Joint Prison Oversight Committee, which holds annual hearings each year. In December, people currently incarcerated in Alabama prisons and family members of former inmates testified before the committee about what goes on inside Alabama prisons.

“It's been a very difficult meeting, probably the most difficult meeting I've had since I've been a member of Congress,” Chambliss said. “I've heard from families about various events that are happening or have allegedly happened.”

“The Joint Prison Oversight Committee has been meeting with a variety of people about how we can help,” Chambliss continued.

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SB 322 would create 15 new positions in the Department of Corrections. According to the bill:

“This bill would provide that the Commissioner of Corrections may appoint 15 staff members to unclassified positions for the purpose of studying and addressing services provided by the Department of Corrections to residents and families of inmates. Under current law, the Joint Prison Oversight Board exists to study the current and long-term correctional needs of the State of Alabama. This would require the Joint Prison Oversight Board to study and address issues related to services provided by the Department of Corrections to residents and families of inmates.”

Chambliss said he plans to propose some changes to the bill before it goes to the Senate, but he hopes to get it out of committee that day.

“We've had some good conversations with HR,” Chambliss said, “and they've come up with some good reforms. We'll go through them in committee and we'll work through all the issues.”

Sen. Greg Albritton (R-Atmore), chairman of the Senate Finance, Taxation and General Fund Committee, said he supports the idea of ​​the bill, though he has some concerns about the cost.

“We're talking about 15 people, highly paid people,” Albritton said. “DOC's budget has increased substantially in the last five years, but we're still struggling to make ends meet.”

Albritton said a federal judge ordered the state to hire 2,000 more corrections officers five years ago. During that time, the state has significantly increased salaries, offered signing-on, retention and overtime bonuses to corrections officers, spent millions of dollars advertising for corrections officers, relaxed training requirements and held job fairs, yet today ADOC has fewer corrections officers than it did when it began this effort.

“There are some issues we want to discuss about how to resolve this or how to move forward,” Albritton said, “but I support this effort.”

The committee voted to issue a favorable report on the bill, which could come before the full Senate as early as Thursday.

According to the fiscal note, SB 322 could cost ADOC an estimated $1.5 million to (1) appoint administrators, as needed, to oversee the operation and management of DOC facilities, and (2) appoint up to 15 additional employees to establish DOC resident services. The bill would increase the administrative duties of the Joint Legislative Prison Oversight Committee by an undetermined amount to examine and address the services DOC provides to residents and families of inmates.

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