$1.25 billion 4,000-bed men’s prison in Elmore County

The Alabama Department of Corrections said Friday that completion of the $1.25 billion Gov. Kay Ivey Correctional Complex, a 4,000-bed men’s prison in Elmore County, will be delayed. 

The department said in a statement Friday that Caddell Construction, a Montgomery-based design-build contractor for the prison, “failed to timely meet the contractual final completion deadline” but that the company remains responsible for completing the project.

The Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority, which oversees financing of the new prisons, “has exercised certain of its contractual rights, including its right to withhold payments from the design-build contractor, and is withholding funds sufficient for liquidated damages now due,” the news release from ADOC said.

Caddell said in a statement Friday that it is committed to completing the project and that “multiple factors” are impacting the schedule.

“Our team is taking extraordinary measures to keep the work moving forward, including expanding work shifts and a significantly increased workforce,” Caddell said in the statement.

The statement from DOC said construction on the prison was 85% complete but did not specify the outstanding issues or a new completion date. DOC said in July it had a “reasonable concern” the prison would not be completed by an Oct. 15 deadline. The initial target for completion was last May. 

The construction of the prison has been plagued by cost overruns and delays. The Legislature in 2021 approved $1.3 billion for the construction of the Elmore prison and a second facility in Escambia County. But soaring construction costs at the Ivey complex have absorbed most of the original appropriation.  

Supporters of the prison project said new correctional facilities would require less staffing, be safer for inmates, staff and officers and allow the state to save money by shuttering older prisons. Critics have cited the growing costs of the project and said it will not address violence and overcrowding in Alabama prisons. Legislators have not yet committed to closing existing prisons.

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, a longtime critic of the project, said Friday he was not surprised by the delay.

“But quite honestly, it may be a good thing for us, because I am not sure we want the current administration to be responsible for creating the transition plan for opening up the new facility,” he said. “The current administration is probably going to have us start a new legislative session after dealing with two massive lawsuits and the millions of dollars associated with them.”

The terms of the contract indicated that Caddell Construction must compensate Alabama if they missed the Oct. 15 deadline to complete the men’s prison. According to the news release, the contractor owes the state $14.2 million for the delay and another $7.1 million on Nov. 16 if the prison is not built by then.

“The schedule, timing of completion, and cost implications will continue to be assessed. Efforts to complete construction and bring this important project online are continuing,” the press release said.

Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, the chair of the House Ways and Means General Fund committee, which oversees appropriations to Corrections and other state agencies, said Friday they want “to stay focused on the project.”

“We want Caddell to be successful,” he said. “Those provisions that were outlined in the press release are part of the process to move the project forward. We want to stay engaged to get this prison done.”