February 2023 Group Watch: Pre-Filed Bill Would Require Monthly ADOC Oversight Reports
Under existing law, the Alabama Department of Corrections is required to report quarterly to the Joint Legislative Prison Oversight Committee. Amid growing concerns about the rising number of deaths in the state’s prisons and what some are calling a lack of transparency, a bill has been pre-filed to require monthly reporting. The existing law requires each report include statistical data on the number, manner and cause of inmate deaths occurring in a correctional facility, including the results of any autopsy provided to the department by a third party. It also requires the department to report on all occurrences of sexual abuse or victimization of inmates, as well as a report on contraband in prisons, including cell phones, weapons and controlled substances recovered within facilities. These requirements will remain under the proposed legislation. Pre-filed bills are usually considered mostly in the order of introduction.
