Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker held a joint press conference alongside Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry on Thursday to discuss the Tuesday release of inmates from the custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections (AODC).

“Part of the job of law enforcement is to educate the public and that’s why we are here, is to make the public aware,” Crocker said.

Crocker stated he became aware of the release “just a few days ago” when the ADOC sent notice to local law enforcement agencies across the state.

In a follow-up interview, Crocker said that he was aware of the law — which states it was to take effect on Jan. 31, 2023 — but had only recently been sent notice by the AODC.

The law, approved in 2021, retroactively applies to a 2015 law — which requires an inmate convicted after 2015 to serve the final three to 12 months of their sentence under the supervision of the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles (ADPP). In an emailed response Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said that this decision resulted in roughly 400 inmates becoming eligible for release when the law went into effect Tuesday, and that several more large scale releases are set to take place in the coming months.

“We have had mandatory early release of inmates since 2015. But we have never had mass release(s), which are a direct result of the retroactivity of the 2021 law. Because of that law, large groups of inmates will be released over the course of several months,” Marshall said in a statement to The Times.

Arguments both for and against the decision center around the issue of public safety, and the likelihood of repeat offenders. A stipulation of an inmates release is a requirement to wear a location monitoring device as well as submit to behavioral or substance abuse treatment as deemed necessary by the ABPP.

On Tuesday, Representative Randall Shedd told The Times that he supported the legislation in hopes that by having inmates supervised by the ADPP — during the time they are statistically more likely to commit a crime — there would be a reduction in repeat offenses.

“The information we saw on this type of legislation showed that this would reduce repeat crime to where they would get out without any supervision and just commit more crimes and get back in. This system, from my understanding, gives them a better chance of not committing more crimes,” Shedd said.

Marshall said that while he feels that re-entry programs were valuable, he felt as though the execution of this legislation was shortsighted, and that conducting a mass release could have potentially dangerous outcomes.

“You simply cannot safely supervise that many violent inmates at one time outside of prison. While reentry programs have value, I have seen no data to suggest that going about it this way will lower crime rates or improve public safety. I genuinely fear for some of our communities, especially those that are already battling high crime,” Marshall said.

Senator Garlan Gudger said that he took issue with the law being applied to those who had been convicted of violent offenses such as rape and murder which ultimately led to his decision to vote against the bill in 2021, but that legislators were presented evidence to suggest that inmates released without any form of supervision or monitoring had a 72% recidivism rate. With those measures in place the chances of an inmate committing a second offense was lowered to 42% which Gudger described as a “blessing.”

“It’s a good way for us to test and figure out a way to depopulate the overcrowding in our prison system to hopefully prevent a federal takeover, so I can understand why others voted yes,” Gudger said.

Due to the AODC’s failure to notify the victims or their families, less than a quarter of the inmates who were to be released on Tuesday were permitted to do so. AODC Commissioner John Hamm said that instead, they would release inmates on a rolling basis, as the department is able to make contact instead of en masse.

In an emailed statement sent on Thursday, the AODC said that 134 inmates had been released from its custody. Approximately 170-200 additional inmates were planned to be released on Friday. Some of these inmates faced pending charges from other law enforcement agencies and would be transferred instead of released.

Only those inmates convicted of sexual offenses involving a child are prohibited from early release. However, those who have been convicted of other violent crimes are eligible. Crocker said that not all of these would otherwise be required to wear any type of monitoring device upon their scheduled release.

Specifics weren’t given for any additional measures to ensure a greater level of public safety after an inmate is released on their scheduled date, but Crocker said the odds of a successful early release were also unlikely.

“Do I think that it’s a good bet to bet on these offenders, no I don’t,” Crocker said.

Gentry pointed to a past program in which the CCSO applied location monitors to released inmates who had specifically been convicted of methamphetamine charges. Gentry said that 70% of those inmates were able to easily remove the devices.

“If they cut it [location monitor] off, then for the next three months you’re chasing that [offender],” Gentry said. “Think about the money and resources that are spent chasing that offender. Which, that’s what we do.”

Gentry said that he has met with the CCSO Command Staff and a plan has been put in place to ensure that the public be kept safe.

“When they come out they’re going to be on parole, they’re going to be on probation and we’re going to be working with the state probation office to monitor them to make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to,” Gentry said.