Governor Visits Tutwiler Prison

Governor Robert Bentley paid a visit to Tutweiler prison in Wetumpka Thursday.  Bentley says he toured the facility two years ago and wanted to check on its progress.  The governor is pushing lawmakers to approve an $800 million bond issue that would be used to build three new men's prisons and one women's facility.  During the tour, Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn told Governor Bentley that mental health is one of the primary issues that prisons like Tutweiler have to address.  According to the Alabama Prison Transformation Initiative, Tutweiler was built in 1942 to house a maximum of 550 inmates.  The current inmate population is 950.