Knox County Jail Inmate Search

Elmore County Jail was the first prison in Alabama. It housed both men and women who were placed in different sections. All the buildings in the prison had never been demolished, until towards the end of the twentieth century. At present, all the old buildings have been demolished with new ones being built. In 1973 the prison was seen as a historical site and was put in the National Register of the historical places in Alabama.

In 1941 the prison acquired a new name which is Julia Tutwiler Prison as it was used mostly to accommodate women. Alabama has struggled to handle the increased number of prisoners as the state put in place mandatory sentencing rules that lengthened the prisoner’s jail term. It operated as the states most crowded prison handling more prisoners than its capacity and facilities could hold.

In 2015 the prison was accused of exposing the inmates to physical and sexual abuse. The prison also spent the least capital on per-prisoner basics. The conditions in prison were not favorable for human living, and some changes had to be done. In October 2016 the state investigated the men's prison to verify the allegations that men also faced sexual and physical violence in the overcrowded cells.

In 2017 the state governor suggested a three-faceted method to reduce overcrowding in prison by replacing and innovation of the outdated facilities. He also proposed the creation of centers that would prepare the prisoners to join the community. In the same year, the magistrate pointed out he the prison lacked enough psychotherapy sections, Crisis management department in prison had limited workers, and the suicidal inmates had limited supervision. The prisoners involved themselves in an inappropriate discipline which made the prison a harmful setting.

By the mid of 2018, the prison system was working with almost half the number of the required corrections officers. There was a proposal for increasing their hourly wages to twice the state least fees. Unlike other states, Alabama does not counsel prisoners who have been sentenced to death. Several human rights activist groups have been at the forefront in fighting death sentences of innocent men saving a lot of lives.

The US Supreme Court had passed a rule that persons convicted with crimes that they committed when they were children cannot be subjected to a death sentence. They cannot be sentenced to life in prison without parole. This has worked in acknowledging the prisoners' rights and the level of their punishment.