MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama will have to make significant, and potentially costly, improvements in treating mentally ill prisoners, politicians and inmate lawyers said, after a judge ruled the care is so inadequate that it violates the U.S. Constitution.

Southern Poverty Law Center lawyer Maria Morris said Tuesday that Alabama, at a starting point, must provide more mental health and correctional staff.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled care is “horrendously inadequate.” He added that chronic overcrowding and understaffing are overarching issues.

Sen. Cam Ward said Alabama will have to increase prison capacity and hire more staff to comply with the order.

Ward estimates the state will have to spend at least $25 million more annually to hire mental health staff.

Thompson ordered the state to meet with inmates’ lawyers and submit a plan.