Ex Parte Locke

In this case, a petition for a writ of mandamus or prohibition was filed by Judson C. Locke, Jr., Commissioner of Corrections for the State of Alabama. Respondents are Judge William F. Thetford of the Montgomery Circuit Court, Judges Edgar P. Russell, Jr., and J.C. Norton of the Dallas Circuit Court, and W.D. Nichols, Sheriff of Dallas County. Writ awarded conditionally.

On December 20, 1976, the members of the Montgomery County Commission filed suit in Montgomery Circuit Court seeking an order requiring Commissioner Locke to transfer state prisoners in the Montgomery County Jail to other jail…