The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles purchased a vacant, private prison in Perry County for use as a rehabilitation facility for parole violators.
Cam Ward, Bureau Director, said the bureau will pay $15 million for the Perry County Correctional Center on US 80 in Uniontown. The prison was previously owned by GEO Group, a private prison company. The 700-bed prison will be renamed the Paroles Reentry Center. The contract was signed Tuesday, February 15.
The purchase was appropriated last year by the State Legislature as a part of a $19 million plan for building two new prisons. The amount includes $4 million for renovations. Senator Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro) had advocated for the state to purchase or lease the Perry County Correctional Center for years, citing that it is better shape than the state’s own prison. The Senate passed a resolution recognizing Singleton’s efforts.
According to Ward, renovations are needed and that he expects the facility to be operational later in the year. It could potentially house up to 400 parole violators, although inaugural groups would be significantly smaller.
