Perry County's prison is closed for repair after it has been damaged by an inmate during an escape.
The inmate was taken into custody again after family members had convinced him to arise.
No occupants are currently housed in the facility. Fourteen male inmates were brought to Cullman County.
The damage caused by the occupant over time enabled him to break through the wall and reach the roof from which he jumped to freedom.
“After the young man had escaped, he had hit a hole in the wall. And went to the prison that people didn't know. And I closed the prison because it is not ready not to accommodate an inmate until we repair it,” said Sheriff Roy Fikes.
The decision to close the prison is made after the chairman of the Perry County Commission, Albert Turner, Jr., to the damaged prison block in the James Hood Detention Center.
Turner criticized the staff for not noticing the damage and explained: “If these employees were my employees, I would ask for a complete examination of how an inmate received a tool to shake them away in several blocks.” He emphasized the responsibility of the employees to regularly inspect cells, although occupants had enough time to create escape plans. Turner found that the Sheriff department with a budget of $ 1 million and 11 prisons has three layers of sufficient resources to monitor the 14 or 15 inmates, which makes the incident unacceptable. The repairs, which are estimated at less than 1,500 US dollars, are carried out by a local contractor.
This is the second big incident in prison this year. In March, an inmate was brutally attacked by another inmate in March and died later. A murder examination is now in progress.
The chairman of the Commission, Turner Turner, said he wanted this investigation and the examination of the prison break.
“You shouldn't have an object in a prison cell that you can beat through cement. And if you knock through cement out there, someone should hear it,” said Turner.
Sheriff Fikes would reopen the prison if it is safe.