A recent article published by the Alabama Political Reporter (APR) lays out a list of Alabama lawmakers that have received donations from Geo Group, the largest private prison and detention center company in the nation, and other companies looking to cash in on the state’s roughly $1 billion contract to build three new prisons.

The plan comes on the heels of a damning report earlier this year that found deplorable conditions within Alabama’s prisons and a push to bring the state’s prisons up to snuff as quickly as possible.

Among those who received contributions were Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who received a combined $12,500 from Geo Group and CoreCivic, another private prison and detention center company, in 2017 and 2018, according to the APR story.

The article also notes that all seven of the members on the legislative Prison Oversight Committee received donations from the companies, as did lawmakers near Geo Group’s facility in Perry County, including Alabama Rep. Prince Chestnut, D-Selma, who received a $1,000 donation from Geo Group during his 2018 primary campaign.

Lobbying firms represent a variety of clients, however, and their donations are not handed out on behalf of a specific company.

“That’s kind of par for the course,” Chestnut said of the donation. “They’re going to reach out to the people in the areas where they have facilities. I don’t care who gave me money, nobody’s buying me.”

According to Chestnut, lobbying groups often identify lawmakers that can benefit a company’s agenda and then target those lawmakers for support.

“They’re just making sure that they donate to people in the area that have constituents that are affected,” Chestnut said. “I would imagine that they want to make sure that we don’t have any reason to be against them just to be against them.”

While Chestnut noted that his knowledge of the lobbying process was limited, as is his knowledge of the company’s plans in Alabama, he noted that Geo Group owns the facility in Perry County, just outside of Uniontown, that was constructed around 2004 and is currently not being utilized.

“Their facility is really nice and it’s not being used,” Chestnut said. “I think their position was, before you build some mega-prison, why don’t you look at some of these other facilities that aren’t being used and are in good shape.”

Chestnut noted that the company met with several legislators at the Perry County facility, including Alabama Sen. Malika Sanders-Fortier, D-Selma, who did not receive a donation from the company.

For his part, Chestnut believes that the company’s objective is to sell the facility to the state, adding that he didn’t believe a private prison system would work in Alabama.

Chestnut added that if the state purchases the facility as part of its comprehensive plan to address overcrowding and all of the problems that accompany it in Alabama prisons, it would take an already established property, make it functional and put people to work.

“We have to look at some measures that make common sense,” Chestnut said. “I just don’t know if three mega-prisons is the solution.”