Por Agustina Troiano
En esta noticia
The Alabama government is moving ahead with construction of a new prison that will hold up to 4,000 inmates and include facilities for different security levels and medical care. The project, in Elmore County, carries an estimated cost of $1.25 billion.
The complex, called the Governor Kay Ivey Correctional Complex, will cover 136 hectares and consist of 54 buildings. According to the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC), the facility will have 192 maximum-security beds and a medical and mental health area with capacity for 750 inmates.
The project also has faced delays because the contractor missed the Oct. 15, 2026, completion deadline. In its latest update on Oct. 20, the ADOC said construction had passed 85% completion and work was continuing.
What the new 136-acre prison will look like and how many inmates it will hold
The Alabama government is moving ahead with construction of the Governor Kay Ivey Correctional Complex, a new prison complex in Elmore County. The facility will house 4,000 men and sit on a 136-hectare site. According to information published by the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC), the project includes 54 buildings and about 133,500 square meters of built space.
The facility will be organized into different sections to house inmates according to their security level and care needs. The buildings will be divided among housing, medical facilities and support spaces for the operation of the complex. According to the agency, the goal of the project is to replace prison beds in older facilities with more modern correctional infrastructure, not to increase the state system’s total capacity.
The prison will have 192 maximum-security beds and a mental health center
One of the project’s main features is the distribution of its 4,000 beds across different custody levels and specialized areas. The Department of Corrections said the new facility will have 192 maximum-security beds, while the rest will be used for minimum- and medium-security inmates, intake and medical care.
The medical complex will include space for acute care, general nursing, long-term care, mental health and stabilization. It will also have rooms for confidential psychological treatment and areas for educational, recreational and rehabilitation activities.
The ADOC also said that within the medium-security beds, 256 were already set aside for mental health programs that can supplement the medical unit’s capacity if needed.
Construction topped 85% completion, but faced delays
The project had a contractual completion date of Oct. 15, 2026, but the company in charge of construction, Caddell Construction Co., did not meet that deadline. In an update published on Oct. 20, the Alabama Department of Corrections said the complex had passed 85% completion and work was still ongoing to finish the facilities and put them into operation.
Because of the missed deadline, the company faced contractual penalties of about $14.2 million. The agency also warned that another $7.1 million could be added if construction was not finished by Nov. 16, 2026. As of that update, officials had not confirmed a new opening date.