Staff Report
CULLMAN — The Alabama Legislature faces a multitude of challenges because of huge projected shortfalls in the General Fund budget.
Among the most critical issues in this funding shortage will be the plight of the state Department of Corrections. With just under 31,000 inmates housed in Alabama prisons, the incarcerated population now stands at 190 percent of the designed capacity of the facilities.
The situation will ultimately put more pressures on county jails to house state inmates, which will require the state to pay additional money to the counties for food and housing the inmates. The overcrowding may well become a county to county issue.
With no concrete funding options in place when the legislature returns to work next month, Gov. Robert Bentley is expected to seek proration in the General Fund budget. Proration will mean layoffs and a reduction in services in several areas, including the judicial system. Residents may see courthouses with reduced hours and shorter court terms across the state.
