Kilby Correctional Facility
Coordinates: 32°23′16″N 86°06′03″W / 32.38778°N 86.10083°W
Kilby Correctional Facility is an Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) prison for the state of Alabama, located in Mt. Meigs, an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Alabama, with a capacity to house over 1,400 inmates.[1] Kilby serves as receiving and processing center for all male Alabama state inmates. The current Kilby Correctional Facility warden is Phyllis J. Billups.[1] The Montgomery Women's Facility, an ADOC facility for women, is located behind Kilby.[2]
History
In 1922 and 1923, the State of Alabama constructed and opened Kilby Prison, located on 2,550 acres (10.3 km2) four miles (6 km) north of the State Capitol. Named in honor of Thomas Erby Kilby), governor of Alabama (1919–23). "Yellow Mama", the electric chair was located at Kilby Prison. Deterioration after forty-five years led to the prison closing in 1969. The prisoners were moved to the new Holman Correctional Facility.
The new Kilby was established as the Mt. Meigs Medical and Diagnostic Center in December 1969 and had an original capacity of 440 inmates. Kilby was designed with an on-site hospital, dormitories, and one hundred two-man cells in order to facilitate its role as receiving center for all male prisoners held by the state of Alabama.[1]
Current facilities
Kilby is a maximum-security prison because it serves as receiving and processing center for male Alabama state inmates. It covers 154 acres, is monitored by five watchtowers, and is bordered by an 18-foot (5.5 m)-high chain link double fence topped with razor wire. Montgomery security and support personnel receive employee training on-site at Kilby. Alabama state dog tracking teams are also maintained at Kilby. The dogs are used by local law enforcement for tracking prison escapees, criminal suspects and missing persons.[1]
Kilby Correctional Facility serves the Alabama state prison system with facilities for dental care, mental health care, general and specialty medical care. Inmate health and life skills programs are offered, including Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, Volunteers in Corrections, sex offender therapy, anger management therapy, alcohol and drug abuse counseling, individual and group mental health therapy, General Equivalency Diploma (GED) classes, Adult Basic Education (ABE) classes, and chaplaincy services. Additionally, Kilby grows its own fresh produce in correctional facility gardens, and runs a correctional industry printing and graphic arts plant.[1]
Famous inmates
- Bobby Frank Cherry, one of the conspirators in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. He was originally taken to Kilby for intake.[3] Cherry was later transferred to the Holman Correctional Facility in Escambia County, Alabama.[4] Cherry died in the Kilby Correctional Facility's hospital unit in 2004.[5]
- The Scottsboro Boys, the nine African American youths who were arrested and sentenced to death for the rape of two white women in 1931, were transferred to the prison after an all-white jury convicted them of the crime.
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Kilby Correctional Facility". Alabama Department of Corrections. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- ↑ "Montgomery Women's Facility". Alabama Department of Corrections. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- ↑ Reeves, Jay. "Cherry, convicted church bomber, praying and writing letters in prison." Associated Press at Times Daily. Saturday August 3, 2002. 2D. Retrieved from Google News (6 of 18) on March 3, 2011. "Cherry is being held at Kilby Correctional Facility, the department's intake prison near Montgomery"
- ↑ "Church Bombing." Associated Press at WTVY. July 23, 2004. Retrieved on March 3, 2011.
- ↑ Johnson, Bob. "Bobby Frank Cherry dies at 74." Associated Press at Gadsden Times. Friday November 19, 2004. C1. Retrieved from Google News (11 of 17) on March 3, 2011.
External links
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