Holman Correctional Facility is an Alabama Department of Corrections prison located in unincorporated southwestern Escambia County, Alabama.[1][2] The facility is along Alabama State Highway 21, 9 miles (14 km) north of Atmore.[2]
Holman currently maintains 630 general population beds, 200 single cells, and 168 death row cells for a capacity of 998 maximum through minimum custody inmates to include a large contingency of life without parole inmates. The death chamber is located at Holman where all executions are conducted. Holman also operates two major correctional industries within the facility's perimeter, a license plate plant and a metal fabrication plant.
Holman Correctional Facility is also the subject of a documentary on MSNBC entitled "Lockup: Holman Extended Stay" [1] The Warden at Holman Correctional Facility is Grantt Culliver. Executions happen at 6pm.
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Opened during December 1969, with a basic capacity for 520 medium-custody inmates including a death row cellblock with a capacity of 20. It was constructed for $5,000,000 during the administration of Governor of Alabama Lurleen Wallace and Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner James T. Hagen. The prisoners of the old Kilby Prison were moved to Holman Prison. It was named in honor of a former warden, William C. Holman.[2]
On Friday August 29, 1975, two U.S. district court federal judges, William Brevard Hand and Frank M. Johnson Jr., prevented Alabama authorities from sending any more prisoners to Holman, Fountain Correctional Facility, Draper Correctional Facility, and the Medical and Diagnostic Center, due to overcrowding; the four prisons, designed to hold 2,212 prisoners, were holding about 3,800.[3]
Since Holman opened, it gained a reputation for being the most violent prison in Alabama. Staff and prisoners stated that after Grantt Culliver became the warden, violence decreased. Hillary Heath, the inside producer of Lockup, said that it is difficult for reputations to die down, so Holman still has a reputation for being a violent prison.[4]
The area where Holman resides often has 100 degree heat during the summertime. The prison administration cannot afford to install air conditioning, so the prison has hundreds of industrial fans to cool the prison. The hottest areas in the prison are the kitchen facilities.[4]
As of 2006, Holman, with a capacity of 500 prisoners, houses 1,000; Hillary Heath, the inside producer for Lockup, said that the prison was "grossly overcrowded." During the same year, nearly 70% of the prisoners at Holman are African-American.[4]
Hillary Heath, the inside producer of Lockup, said that when she asked prisoners to describe Holman, they used names like "The Slaughterhouse," "Slaughter Pen of the South," and "House of Pain," which refer to commonly occurring stabbings. The names "The Bottom" and "The Pit" refer to the prison's location in southern Alabama. A prisoner said that within the state "you can’t get any lower than this."[4]
Prisoners at Holman make "julep," a homegrown whiskey, using water, sugar, and yeast. Hillary Heath, the inside producer of Lockup, said that "julep," brown liquid with dark floating chunks, resembles raw sewage. Heath said that "julep"'s odor "was not as vile as I imagined." According to Heath, it smelled like sourdough bread and prunes.[4]
Prisoners who commit indecent exposure commit rule violation #38, so a "38" refers to a prisoner doing indecent exposure. Prisoners expose themselves to men and women who work and visit the facility. People who do "38" are required to take sex addiction courses.[4]
Death row
Non-death row
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| Alabama's execution chamber | |
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