Alabama Corrections Commissioner Resigns, Replacement Named

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – The commissioner of Alabama’s troubled prison system has resigned and Gov. Robert Bentley has named a replacement.

Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Kim Thomas resigned Tuesday and will retire. Governor Robert Bentley says Col. Jefferson S. Dunn will take over the job when he retires from the U.S. Air Force in March.

Dunn currently serves as commander of the Thomas Barnes Center for Enlisted Education at Maxwell Air Force Base. He is a 1986 graduate of Birmingham Southern College.

Alabama’s prison system has come under fire for overcrowding as well as accusations of abuse and substandard medical care.

Billy Sharp will serve as interim commissioner until March. Sharp worked as an investigator, a chief investigator and field agent with the Alabama Criminal Justice Center.