MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Five companies have expressed interest in building new prisons for the state of Alabama, the governor’s office announced Monday, as a prison construction plan inches forward.

Gov. Kay Ivey’s office said five firms responded to a “request for qualifications” to build the three proposed prisons that would house 3,000 or more inmates each.

Ivey’s press office said the firms are The GEO Group, Corvias, Corrections Consultants, CoreCivic and Alabama Prison Transformation Partners.

GEO and CoreCivic are the nation’s two largest private prison companies.

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Although some of the companies are well-known names in corrections, little is known about one of the firms. The Alabama secretary of state’s website did not have records for a company called Alabama Prison Transformation Partners.

In February, Ivey announced a plan to build three new large prisons to replace most state prisons. She has said state officials will first gather proposals and then decide how to proceed. The administration says the state could lease the prisons.

Department of Corrections spokesman Bob Horton wrote in an email that the prison system will evaluate the companies’ qualifications. The prison system will ask the companies for proposals in the fall with intention of receiving proposals in the first part of 2020, he wrote.