May 25, 2013
A hearing will be held Thursday to consider the state's latest plan for fixing overcrowded conditions at Tutwiler Prison for women.
A Senate Committee has approved an emergency $3.6 million appropriation to help relieve overcrowding at Tutwiler.
The state finance director said the money would be used partly to transfer up to 300 women prisoners to private prisons in Louisiana.
The plan now goes to the full Senate for its consideration.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson has called Tutwiler a "ticking time bomb" because of too few corrections officers in overcrowded dormitories.
