Associated Press
BRENT, Ala. — Alabama Department of Corrections officials say they’re investigating a disturbance at the Bibb County Correctional Facility in Brent.
Department spokesman Bob Horton said in an emailed statement that inmates disconnected electricity in a housing area, caused minor fire damage and littered the area with debris on Thursday night.
Horton says 16 inmates had barricaded the dormitory’s entrance from the inside and refused to follow the orders of corrections officers.
Officials say the department’s Institutional Coordinator for North Alabama Cheryl Price talked the inmates into removing the barricade and allowing officers inside the housing area.
Horton says no injuries were reported and the facility is on lockdown. Horton says the prison has a roughly 44 percent staffing level and houses 1,953 inmates — more than 200 percent of its designed capacity.