Search Alabama Public Records

How Are Inmate Records in Alabama Created and Stored?

Inmate records in Alabama begin with a RAP sheet, when a person is arrested. The initial paperwork includes the suspect’s name, address, physical description, and other details about the crime. Once the suspect is convicted and sent to jail or prison, the inmate’s records are entered into the Alabama Department of Corrections database. The records are stored there and updated daily as events take place in the inmate’s life until they are moved to another location. The database is searchable but limited to adult-only records and does not contain historical records of previously released inmates. Anyone can perform an inmate search for someone incarcerated in Alabama.

What Does Alabama’s Prison System Look Like?

The government didn’t establish Alabama’s Department of Corrections until 1983. The Governor, working with a warden in each facility, oversees the prison system. The state of Alabama’s prison system is comprised of the following:

The Alabama Department of Corrections also has robust drug and sex-offender treatment programs. Under the direction of the Alabama Department of Youth Services, the state also has three juvenile detention centers:

• Autauga Campus - an intensive 28-day outdoor adventure-based program designed to meet the needs of lower risk youth who do not have extensive involvement in the juvenile justice system.
• Mt. Meigs - this facility houses older youth offenders.
• Vacca - a secure facility designed to meet the needs of 12-16-year-old offenders.

Types of Jails and Prisons in Alabama

Alabama has its jails and prisons segregated, and the same organization does not supervise them both. Each county jail is operated and controlled by the county government and the Sheriff’s Department. The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) is in charge of the prisons for the state, and the Alabama Department of Youth Services oversees juvenile detention centers.

How Many People are Locked up in Alabama?

Alabama’s prison system holds 28,883 residents in various kinds of correctional facilities, from which 26,935 residents are held in state prisons, 128 in federal prisons, 27 in juvenile correctional facilities, and 1,445 in local jails.

Alabama State Prisons

Alabama has fourteen state prisons and twelve community correctional centers and work camps. The Hamilton Aged & Infirmed facility is for older sick and disabled adults and can only hold 300 inmates. The Tutwiler Prison for Women facility is for women only and houses 975 inmates. The other facilities are for male offenders only. The total prison population is about 27,500 inmates. The levels of custody are as follows:

• High-security facility inmates - 7,237
• Medium-security facility inmates - 10,181
• Minimum-security work camps - 1,798
• Minimum-security work release programs - 1,252

The state also has treatment programs for drug abuse and sex-offenders.

Alabama Federal Prisons

Alabama has only four federal prisons within the state. They are overseen and managed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). The facilities are as follows:

• Aliceville FCI - A low security federal correctional institution with an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp. They have 1,562 total inmates.
• Montgomery FPC – A minimum-security federal prison camp with 747 inmates.
• Montgomery RRM - A Residential Reentry Management (RRM) field office aimed at helping inmates adjust back into society.
• Talladega FCI - A medium security federal correctional institution with an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp. There are 1,090 total inmates at this facility.

Alabama County Jails

Alabama has a total of sixty-seven county jails. The jail system, much like the prison system is in crisis due to overcrowding. Alabama has the highest incarceration rate in the country, which is 16% more than any other state. The ACCA (Association of County Commissioners of Alabama) is working on a plan of reform to fix the problem. They argue that although an efficient local law enforcement process is essential to keep residents safe, it also promotes overcrowding in short and long-term facilities.

Alabama Juvenile Detention Centers

The Alabama Department of Youth Services is the government agency that oversees the three youth detention centers for the state. They are called Mt. Meigs, Vacca, and Autauga. Each is designed for a different demographic. One serves the 12-16-year-olds, another an older population and one of them is an intensive 28-day outdoor adventure-based program.

Alabama Community Correctional Facilities

Alabama’s community work centers and camps are designed to keep inmates busy while also helping the community. They are generally minimum-security facilities staffed by ADOC employees. Some of these facilities also include drug, alcohol, and sex-offender rehabilitation programs. Alabama’s community work centers include:

• Alex City
• Birmingham
• Camden
• Elba
• Frank Lee
• Hamilton WR
• Loxley
• Mobile
• Montgomery WF
• North Alabama
• Red Eagle

Some of these facilities house special types of inmates such as the Frank Lee center is only for first-time offenders.

Alabama Private Prisons

Alabama also uses two private, out-of-state facilities to help deal with the overcrowding issue. Presently, they have only mailing address information for both, but visitors can use the inmate locator feature to contact the facility to visit an inmate. The two out-of-state facilities are:

• ATEF - P.O. Box 1970, Columbiana, AL 35051
• Perry County Detention Facility - P.O. Box 176, Uniontown, AL 36786

Why are People Incarcerated in Alabama?

Alabama has the highest rate of incarceration, not only in the United States but also internationally. Their prison murder rate is ten times higher than any other prison in the U.S. Roughly 55% of the inmates in Alabama prisons committed capital offenses such as murder, sexual assault, robbery or some other type of violence. Local law enforcement is very rigorous and this has led to overcrowding in county jails. The judicial system is also very tough on crime, especially violent crimes, and therefore, Alabama is experiencing a lot of overcrowding and consequences related to that in their prisons.

Alabama’s Incarceration Rate and Statistics

Alabama’s incarceration rate for year-end 2016 under state prison or local jail jurisdiction per 100,000 population was 571, which is higher than an average incarceration rate by 27%. The number of Alabama prisoners at the year-end of 2016 was 28,883, from which 8% were female prisoners, whereas the number of male prisoners was 26,506 in 2016.

Where Do Alabama Inmates Go When They are Released?

Most inmates released from Alabama prison will go home to family and friends, and others will be sent to a halfway house or rehabilitation center to address the following items before they go back home:

• Addiction and Recovery
• Job, Career, Communication and Financial Skills
• Faith & Character-Building Skills
• Health Education, Screenings & Referrals
• Family Reintegration
• Law Enforcement
• Education

Alabama inmates are assigned a reentry coordinator to help them with this process, and they even have a handbook to make things easier.

How Does Parole Work in Alabama?

Due to overcrowding in the Alabama prison system, the state is paroling more inmates than ever before. By pruning the inmate population and releasing low-risk offenders, the state hopes to free up beds, reduce in-prison violence, and improve the ADOC’s reputation. Parolees are released after completing a portion of their sentence. Their release comes with conditions they must satisfy by meeting weekly with a parole officer and acceptably re-entering society.

Parole Population

How Does Someone Get Probation in Alabama?

Probation is an alternative to incarceration, and historically, many Alabama judges have been reluctant to sentence probation instead of custody. Now with the overcrowding crisis, they are being forced to consider probation for petty crimes and lesser offenses for low-risk or first-time offenders.

Probation Statistics