Case: Thomas v. Tallapoosa County

On November 19, 1987, an inmate at the Tallapoosa County Jail ("County Jail") in Alabama filed a pro se complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, alleging unconstitutional conditions of confinement. Specifically, plaintiff alleged that the Alabama Department of Corrections was incarcerating state prisoners in the County Jail, exacerbating the already overcrowded condition of the County Jail, and that no provisions had been made to accommodate these state prisoners.

On November 18, 1991, the court ordered the Department of Corrections to remove state prisoners from the County Jail within 30 days of receipt of the inmate's transcript from the Department of Corrections.

On November 22, 1993, the court approved a consent order between the parties which resolved all of the constitutional issues at the County Jail; the consent order included a requirement for the construction of a new jail, procedures for the operation of that jail, and a provision which made the November 1991, court order permanent.

On September 18, 1998, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama (Magistrate Judge Carroll), held that all portions of the consent decree were terminated pursuant to the Prison Litigation Reform Act ("PLRA"), except for the provision making permanent the County Jail's duty to remove all state prisoners from the County Jail within thirty days of receipt of the prisoner's transcript. Thomas v. Tallapoosa County, No. 87-1319, 1998 WL 709775 (M.D. Ala. Sept. 18, 1998). The conditions of confinement which were regulated by that provision were unconstitutional and the relief afforded in that provision was necessary to remedy the constitutional violation, making termination under the PLRA improper. The court held, however, that a hearing was required to determine whether continuation of that provision of the consent decree was necessary in relation to the new jail. The hearing was scheduled for October 1, 1998, but the ultimate disposition of this issue is unclear.