August 2024 Group Watch: State Still Seeking Funding for Second New Prison
It’s still unknown when construction will start and how long it will take to construct a second massive men’s prison, the Escambia Men’s Facility. It was pledged in 2021 legislation, but state leaders continue to seek more funding. The new Escambia County prison will be in Senator Greg Albritton’s district, and the chair of the Senate General Fund committee says the state must move forward with the 4,000-bed facility. Portions of Holman Prison were closed in recent years due to disrepair. Fountain Prison is nearly 100 years old. Both are also in Albritton’s district. The U.S. Department of Justice has an ongoing lawsuit with the state over the violence in the crowded existing prisons, and thanks to recent meetings in which families of inmates recounted gruesome details of abuse in prisons, public pressure is also mounting.
