WARDEN'S MEMO PUTS HIM ON LEAVE

Days before being placed on mandatory leave, Donaldson Correctional
Facility Warden Stephen Bullard sent out a memo warning of "catastrophic
circumstances" at the prison.

"I am concerned that it is going to take a lawsuit, riot, death or serious
injury for anyone to take this crisis seriously," Bullard wrote in the
March 1 memo to Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Donal Campbell.

The warden's concerns focused on correctional officers, who have been
forced to work overtime, sometimes 32 hours per week. The staff shortage
took a toll on him, as well, affecting his health, patience and tolerance,
he wrote.

On March 4, Bullard was informed that Campbell had placed him on a
mandatory 10-business-day leave, which could be extended. Department of
Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said that, because the leave is an
administrative matter, he could not comment on the reasons for it. Campbell
has acknowledged the staffing shortages and crowding at Donaldson. He
approved a 5 percent pay differential for Donaldson officers in an attempt
to recruit more to the ranks. Bullard used stronger language, however, and
said the state was taking advantage of employees.

"It is also my opinion that should an employee be injured or even sue for
harassment on unfair ... employment practices the department would have no
legal standing to defend these charges," he wrote. With space for about
1,000 prisoners, Donaldson houses 1,625, crowding that has overloaded the
prison's sewage system. It houses many mentally ill inmates and some of the
people on Death Row.

Bullard said in an interview that he has asked many times to be transferred
to another prison but was turned down.

"Donaldson is considered by most in the department to be the most stressful
institution in the state," he said. "I've paid my dues. I've been there for
five years, and it's somebody else's turn." Most recently, officers are
refusing to work mandatory overtime, calling in sick and requesting
counseling and medication. It's become difficult for him to force overtime,
he wrote in the memo.

Still, Bullard said that these are conditions he's spoken about in the
past. And it's never resulted in forced leave, which he did not want to
take. "I'm very, very confused. I don't understand the tactic that is being
used, and hopefully it will resolve itself," he said.