AL DOC – Donaldson Correctional Facility

AL DOC – Donaldson Correctional Facility basic information to help guide you through what you can do for your inmate while they are incarcerated. The facility's direct contact number: 205-436-3681

This facility is for adult inmates.

The inmates housed at Donaldson Correctional located at 100 Warrior Ln in Bessemer, AL are placed according to their custody level (determined by a number of factors including the past criminal history and the length of their sentence). There are ample educational and vocational training programs for all inmates, especially ones that show a willingness to learn new things that will prepare them for a better life when they are released. The mission is to promote and prepare the offender to leave in better shape than when they arrived, giving them the best chance to never come back and thus lower the state's recidivism rate.

Donaldson Correctional Facility is a maximum security state prison formerly known as West Jefferson Correctional Facility operated by the Alabama Department of Corrections – but renamed in the '90s after a correctional officer named William Donaldson was killed by an inmate. The prison incarcerates about 1500 inmates and houses death row inmates as well as prisoners. The AL DOC uses Donaldson to house inmates who have multiple or repeated violent offenses and who cannot be easily managed. Hundreds of offenders here have life without parole sentences. The prison includes a segregation unit for 300 inmates

Donaldson Correctional has the largest solitary confinement unit in Alabama and can hold up to 300 inmates. Solitary confinement often referred to as segregation is a controversial method of holding some of the most troublesome and dangerous prisoners, and is often used as a behavioral deterrent to ensure inmates follow the rules and regulations of the prison.

Donaldson offers vocational, educational, and rehabilitative programs services to eligible inmates. In addition, Donaldson has a death row unit with a capacity for 24 inmates that need to be incarcerated in the Birmingham judicial area. Donaldson is classified as a close custody facility.

Donaldson was the main setting of the documentary film The Dhamma Brothers, which chronicles the establishment of a Vipassana meditation program for prisoners that may now be seen on Netflix.

Donaldson Correctional Facility – Male Inmate Handbook
Donaldson Correctional Facility – Female Inmate Handbook
Donaldson Correctional Facility – Re-Entry and Pre-Release Program

visitation Info

Visiting hours for PRISON_NAME. For Directions call PRISON_PHONE

Sunday 8:00 am – 3:00 pm
Monday 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday 8:00 am – 3:00 pm
Federal Holidays 8:00 am – 3:00 pm

No cellphones, you will be searched before visiting. NO personal belongings. Persons under probation, parole, or other community corrections supervision must obtain the permission of both their individual supervising officer and the superintendent prior to a visit. Such visitation is not normally approved. 

If the visitor is under the age of 18 and is a family member of the inmate, they must be accompanied by an adult family member or guardian to include a member of the inmate's extended family. If the visitor is under the age of 18 and is not a family member of the inmate, the minor visitor must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.