The Alabama Legislature passed the Justice Reinvestment Act this session, a law that would make sweeping reforms aimed at reducing the state's prison population, which is at about 185 percent capacity, putting our prison system under threat of federal intervention.

The law, estimated to cost $25-26 million a year for five years, would create a new Class D felony for nonviolent crimes, diverting those nonviolent felons to community corrections programs instead of overcrowded prisons. About $6 million of the annual cost goes to support those locally run community programs.

It would also place new emphasis on parole and supervision of offenders to divert some from prison and to keep others from going back. As part of that effort, 100 new parole officers would be hired, plus about 25 more support staff.

A related measure calls for use of $60 million in bond money to expand prison capacity by about 1,500 to 2,000 beds.

All that being said, with the General Fund budget estimated at $250 million in the hole and a special budget session starting on Monday, here are 5 things to know about the status of prison reform:

1. Prison reform isn't a done deal. The Legislature passed it, the governor signed it and there was scant opposition. But there is also a little-known provision within the bill that allows the state finance director to determine whether there is enough money to go ahead with the reform plans. If there is not, the bill would not be enacted. The chief shepherd of the prison reform effort, Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, was arrested for DUI last week, and it's still unclear whether he will assume the same role when the Legislature returns. Ward has said he thinks prison reform can move forward if legislators are able to find at least $12 million in whatever budget solution they come up with in the upcoming special session.

Some, however, question whether partial funding is wise. Bennet Wright, executive director of the Alabama Sentencing Commission, said he thinks the program must receive all $25-$26 million this year and over the next four years to be effective.

Unless all parts are fully in place - money for increased mental health services, money for additional parole officers, money to support the increased pressure on community corrections programs - the effort might fail, Wright said.

"To fully realize the opportunity that this legislation created, it has to be fully funded" Wright said. "It's difficult to say, 'Well, if we fund 70 percent of it, we will receive 70 percent of the effectiveness.' I really don't think we can assume that. We need a tall ladder. A six-foot ladder isn't going to get us out of the hole that we've dug."

2. The prison reform bill isn't the only thing that needs money for this to work. The Legislature not only has to come up with the money to pay for the various aspects of prison reform, but it also has to make sure the budgets of the Alabama Department of Corrections, the Department of Pardons and Paroles and the Alabama Department of Mental Health, among others, are not cut, and potentially increased. Prison Commissioner Jeff Dunn has said if his budget is cut at the 5 percent level recommended in the House's unpassed "austere budget," he would be forced to close two prisons and bring prisoners back into state facilities from leased space in private prisons. That would raise the prison population to 226 percent capacity, making the goal of 137 percent capacity in 5 years much harder to reach, if not impossible.

3. Gov. Robert Bentley has appointed a high-level council of state agency heads to oversee the prison reform effort and make sure it works as advertised. Bentley's deputy legal advisor, Franklin Johnson, will serve as chairman of the Alabama Criminal Justice Oversight and Implementation Council. Other members appointed to the council include:

Secretary Spencer Collier, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency

Commissioner Jim Perdue, Alabama Department of Mental Health

Commissioner Jeff Dunn, Alabama Department of Corrections

Phil Bryant, Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles

Bennett Wright, Alabama Sentencing Commission

State Representative Mike Jones (R-Andalusia), Chair of the Alabama House Judiciary Committee

State Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster), Chair of the Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee.

Wright said this board will oversee the reforms as they are put in place and make sure all the efforts are working as they are supposed to, and "tweak" them as necessary. He said the council will likely appoint many subcommittees of stakeholders like prison wardens, local sheriffs, community corrections personnel, and prison reform advocates to do the actual legwork and make reports and recommendations.

4. The bond money to build new prison beds is still on hold. Just like the rest of the prison reform package, the $60 million bond issue the Legislature approved to add 1,500 to 2,000 beds to some existing prison facilities, is held hostage by the lack of a General Fund budget. A bond issue has to have a source of repayment, and that can't be specified until the 2016 General Fund budget is in place. The Governor's Office and Department of Finance is spending all its time working on a budget solution to propose to the Legislature in special session. "Once that is resolved, and there is a General Fund Budget in place for FY2016, we will analyze the prison bond issue," Bentley spokeswoman Jennifer Ardis said.

5. The $2.3 billion BP settlement for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will not save the day (or will it?). The settlement included $1.3 billion in environmental damages and $1 billion in economic damages. That $1 billion, paid over 18 years in $55.5 million installments, will go into the state's general fund. However, Gov. Bentley has said, and the House Ways and Means Committee reiterated last week, that the BP money will not arrive in time to be put toward this year's General Fund deficit.

Update: On Thursday, BP released a payment schedule that showed Alabama getting about $200 million up front from the settlement. It's still unclear if the Legislature could or will use it to shore up the deficit.

If the money isn't used toward this year's General Fund, it looks like we're still at a standoff over how to meet the state's budget obligations. Will it be increased taxes, some form of gambling, a combination thereof, or massive cuts that would scuttle prison reform, not to mention the effect on Medicaid, State Troopers, the court systems, the mental health system, etc.