Corrections officer charged with smuggling meth into Alabama prison

A corrections officer has been arrested on charges of smuggling methamphetamine into the maximum-security prison where she worked.

The unnamed 48-year-old officer was charged with attempting to distribute a controlled substance, promoting prison contraband, and using her official office for personal gain. All charges are felonies, according to arrest records.

The officer allegedly brought meth into the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, then distributed the drugs to an inmate, the complaint states. The officer was taken into custody on Wednesday.

Holman Correctional Facility serves as Alabama’s primary prison for death row inmates and is the only facility in the state where executions are carried out.

The arrest follows a similar case this year when another Alabama corrections officer was sentenced for drug smuggling at a different facility.

Investigators with a canine unit found three bags of meth inside Henry Guice Jr.’s car in June 2023 while it was parked at Stanton Correctional Facility in Elmore County

In that instance, a former officer received a 30-month federal prison sentence for attempting to distribute meth to inmates at his place of work. The officer pleaded guilty to charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Alabama’s Department of Corrections has faced criticism from federal and state authorities over the condition of its prison facilities. Reports have cited overcrowding, understaffing and high rates of violence as factors exacerbating the challenges within the system.

At a hearing earlier this year, families of incarcerated individuals described their disgust toward Alabama’s prisons, including assaults, drug-related deaths and other incidents involving their friends and family.

Some wearing T-shirts with photos of their loved ones, family members also detailed rapes, extortions and overdoses behind bars. They expressed frustration over the state’s lack of progress in improving conditions.

In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Alabama, alleging that conditions in the state’s men’s prisons violated the Eighth Amendment, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment.

The Justice Department’s complaint specifically noted the availability of illegal drugs, high levels of violence, and inadequate security measures.

Efforts to reform Alabama’s prison system have been ongoing, but progress has been slow.

Three years ago, Katie Glenn, a policy associate with the Southern Poverty Law Center, described Alabama’s prison system as one of the most “overcrowded and violent carceral in the country.”

She wrote that “people living in Alabama Department of Corrections facilities are increasingly older and sicker.”

The state has initiated construction on two new prisons intended to alleviate the problems.

However, critics argue that without addressing the root causes of drug smuggling and other contraband issues, new facilities alone will not resolve the systemic problems.

“Every issue that’s been identified, every one of them, will still exist in 2025 when these first two prisons are completed,” state Representative Chris England, chair of the Alabama Democratic Party, said in a floor speech the same year Glenn’s report was published.

“Our system is in a current humanitarian crisis,” he said. “And every question cannot be answered with new prisons. The buildings will not do anything with the culture of corruption in our prisons.”

As the investigation into the latest arrest continues, authorities have not disclosed whether additional arrests or disciplinary actions are expected.

This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.