Bulldogs bully Panthers for area lead.
“It’s time to stop the stigmas of mental illness”
Find upcoming events on this week’s calendar.
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THURSDAY • MARCH 31, 2016
TheWetumpkaHerald.com
Vol. 27, No. 11
Gov. Bentley to visit Tutwiler Prison By MITCH SNEED Editor
Submitted / The Observer
Gov. Robert Bentley, right, and state Sen. Cam Ward, (R-Alabaster) look through bars toward a dormitory at William C. Holman Correctional facility in Atmore March 15. Bentley is slated to visit Tutwiler Prison today.
A proposed prison reform plan that would bring the closure of the state’s only women’s prison and the construction of a new facility is being debated in the legislature and Elmore County will get a visit from the man making
the push. The office of Gov. Robert Bentley announced Wednesday that Bentley will be in the area Thursday at the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka to meet with prison officials and other state leaders. Tutwiler is a maximum-security prison designed to house 550
inmates. The current population at Tutwiler is 950, which is 173 percent of design capacity. The facility is overcrowded and outdated, requiring vital renovations. When Tutwiler is closed, if the new facility isn’t built locally, it will have a huge impact on the local economy. So local
By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
A majority of the business discussed at Monday’s Elmore County Commission meeting came out of the Highway Department, including updates on the countywide energy-efficiency renovations, as well as budget changes for roadside cleanup programs. However, news of different sort came later in the meeting. A commissioner reported he had played a major part in bringing about new verification measures for local vote counting, after being involved as the incumbent candidate in the March 1 mishap that nearly resulted in a runoff for his District 4 seat. Joe Faulk, said a commitment had been made to him that after the April 12 runoff elections both the Probate Office and the local branch of the Republican Party would compare voting tapes for reporting differences. He said that a number of city and party officials received copies of these paper records after elections; however the measure he proposed was not in place. “What I’ve advocated is, particularly in party elections, that the Republican Party and their leadership, in this case it would be Vicki Ward who is the chairman, or her See COMMISSION • Page 7
Weather
Will travel to Washington D.C. in April to work on nationwide initiative By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
Cory Diaz / The Observer
Stadium work in full swing Workers from Correct Cut Construction clean up the site Tuesday where the visitors bleachers stood at Burt-Haynie Field. Once serving as the home stands at Elmore County High School football games, the set of bleachers was speculated to have been built in the 1930s. The demolition of the stands serve as the second step in the process of the football field receiving a new set of visitors bleachers, a plan the Elmore County Public School Board of Education approved on Oct. 20, 2015.
The sheriff and the vice chairman of the County Commission are traveling to Washington D.C. in April to represent Elmore County at a nationwide initiative aimed at developing new ways to address cases of mental illness in jails. County Commissioner Stephanie Daniels Smoke of District 5 and Sheriff Bill Franklin have been approved by the Elmore County Commission to spend April 17-19 at the The National Summit on Reducing the Prevalence of Individuals with Mental Illnesses in Jails, otherwise known as the National Stepping Up Summit. Daniels Smoke said Elmore County was one of only 50 counties nationwide invited to take part in the summit, part of a broader effort called the National Stepping Up Initiative, and is a collaboration of The American Psychiatric Association Foundation, The National Association of Counties and The Council of State Governments Justice Center. The local involvement in the See REFORM • Page 3
Miles sentenced to 41 months in federal prison STAFF REPORT TPI Staff
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See BENTLEY • Page 3
Sheriff and Commissioner represent Elmore County
Commissioner moves to change vote counting
Today’s
officials are holding their collective breath as they track the Alabama Prison Transformation Initiative Act and the latest developments. Bentley first introduced the prison reform plan on Feb. 23 and it was introduced into the State Senate
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File / The Observer
Former Tallassee assistant Chief of Police Chris Miles and his wife Kelli Miles walked into the U.S. District Courts in Montgomery, Alabama where Miles plead guilty to one count each of obstruction of justice, deprivation of rights and distribution of marijuana.
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A former Tallassee Assistant Police Chief has been sentenced to almost four years in prison for beating a suspect and then lying to investigators about his attack. Chris Miles, 41, was sentenced to 41 months in prison for depriving a suspect of his federally protected rights by beating the suspect with a phone book-sized packet of paper during an interrogation and then lying about the incident to an FBI agent investigating the matter. Miles was also sentenced for selling marijuana that he stole from the police evidence room. Miles pleaded guilty on Nov. 17, 2015, to one count of deprivation of civil rights, two counts of false statements and one count of possession with intent to distribute. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Myron H. Thompson of the Middle District of Alabama. According to admissions made during
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his plea hearing, in April of 2013, while he was on duty as assistant police chief, Miles beat a prisoner who was serving a sentence at Tallassee jail while Miles was interrogating that prisoner about uncharged crimes the prisoner was suspected of having committed. During the questioning, Miles grabbed a thick packet of copy paper and used it to strike the victim multiple times across the victim’s face and head. Miles also repeatedly slapped the victim across the face and head with his hand. His abuse caused the victim to suffer bruising and physical pain. Miles also admitted that earlier in 2013 he stole approximately 16 pounds of marijuana from the police evidence room and later sold it to a known drug dealer. “Law enforcement leaders serve as role models for their fellow officers, and at all times they must act with integrity, fairness and professionalism,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil See SENTENCE • Page 3