The new warden at Limestone Correctional Facility in Capshaw is settling into his new role at the prison, but credits the previous warden for the smooth transition.

DeWayne Estes, 53, who became Warden III at LCF on July 2, said former warden Billy Mitchem was a “fine warden” who had appropriate systems in place before Estes arrived. Mitchem retired in May after serving 31 years with the Department of Corrections.

“The institution runs smooth, so the transition has been really good,” Estes said.

The prison is not a completely new environment for Estes, however, as he has worked at the facility before. A Hamilton native, he’s been with the Alabama Department of Corrections for more than 29 years, and most recently served as a warden at the Bibb Correctional Facility in Brent.

Estes graduated from the University of North Alabama and went into the corrections field shortly thereafter. When he graduated, he said, the nation was in the midst of an economic crisis and jobs were hard to come by.

“I sent letters to every state in the union and 13 applications to the state of Alabama,” he said. “The Department of Corrections was the first cheerful voice on the other end of the line saying, ‘We want you to come work for us.’”

Since then, Estes has moved around quite a bit, including 13 assignments at 11 different institutions. He served in the position of captain at Easterling Correctional Facility in Clio before being promoted to Warden II.

“Fortunately, during the time my kids were growing up and in school, I didn’t have to move around quite as much,” he said.

Estes said he and his wife Charlotte are adjusting to life in Limestone County and are enjoying the amenities the region has to offer. He said Charlotte enjoys being within just several miles of shopping in both Athens and Huntsville.

Despite a smooth transition of power for Estes, challenges still exist at the prison. On March 2, the facility took a direct hit from an EF-3 tornado that severely damaged a dormitory, perimeter fencing, K-9 housing and the prison’s canteen and gymnasium.

After the dormitory was hit, about 200 prisoners were moved to two other facilities, including the Bullock County Correctional Facility and Alabama Therapeutic Education Facility in Columbiana.

Construction to repair those facilities should begin sometime this summer, as sealed bids for the project were opened on July 17.

“The way I look at it, when we have facilities that are down, we’re still running in an emergency situation and not everything is back to normal,” Estes said. “There are challenges we have to deal with, and we look forward to getting the construction phase going.”

Because the gymnasium is closed, Estes said, the prison has focused on other recreational aspects for prisoners, including basketball, softball, horseshoes and lifting weights.

“We keep them out in the yard as much as we can,” he said. “It’s not so bad when you’ve got sunshine, but when it rains, (the inmates) get cabin fever like everyone else.”

A group of state officials, including State Sen. Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison, and State Rep. Dan Williams, R-Athens, recently toured the prison damage and met with Estes. Holtzclaw said repairing the gym in a timely manner is critical because it gives inmates a place to work off steam.

“If you can make them tired during the day, they’ll sleep at night,” he said.

Holtzclaw also praised prison officials’ actions following the tornado, including the logistics of moving 200 prisoners off-site.

“The community had no idea that was going on,” he said.

Possible cutbacks

A challenge that looms on the horizon for the Department of Corrections is the possibility of severe cutbacks, should voters fail to approve a referendum that would move $198 million from a state savings account to the General Fund.

Each state department could face dire consequences, including the prison system. Officials have said cost-cutting measures may require shuttering some facilities and the possibility of releasing some offenders early.

Holtzclaw said if the referendum doesn’t pass, Gov. Robert Bentley has other options, including proration or calling the Legislature back into special session.

“I’m cautiously optimistic (about the referendum),” he said.

Estes hopes cutbacks won’t be the only option because of the effect it would have on not just the general public, but the state’s prison workers. He said correctional officers often get a bad rap and are perceived as “guards with billy clubs,” but they are required to go through the same training as police officers.

“(The cutbacks) wouldn’t be good for those officers, because they have to move their families and it causes disruptions,” he said. “We don’t want to go through that, but the reality is if there’s not enough money (for the prison system), we have to do something.”

Estes also doesn’t want to see cutbacks add to the issue of fewer officers versus more inmates. In Alabama, he said, the average inmate-to-officer ratio is 10-to-1, while the national average is about 7-to-1. As of Friday, there were 2,154 inmates at Limestone Correctional Facility and 35 correctional officers for a ratio of more than 60-to-1.

“Alabama does more for less than any other state, and we do it better,” Estes said. “We’re a blip in everybody’s statistics because we spend less and have fewer critical incidents because we take a proactive stance and monitor stress in the inmate population.”