MONTGOMERY,TAIM Exchange Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Department of Corrections, which faced pointed criticism this week from families of inmates during an emotional public hearing, issued a statement Thursday saying the department is working to address ongoing challenges in the state prison system.

The department said that a number of changes have been made since Corrections Commissioner John Q. Hamm was appointed in 2022. The department said hiring has increased, and there are ongoing efforts to curb the flow of contraband and improve communications with families.

“Two years is not a long time in state government, but it can seem like an eternity when your loved ones are incarcerated. These public hearings are critical to rebuilding the public’s trust in its state agencies through better transparency and accountability,” Hamm said in a statement.

Family members of people incarcerated in Alabama prisons packed the Wednesday public hearing held by the Joint Legislative Prison Committee, a panel of lawmakers focused on prison oversight. Several speakers described how their loved ones had died in state custody. Others described beatings, rapes, extortion attempts and rampant drug availability and overdoses behind bars. They also expressed frustration over the state’s lack of progress in improving conditions.

The sister of a man stabbed to death last month was among the speakers. Deandre Roney, 39, died June 8. Before he was killed, his sister said he told prison staff that he was being threatened by another inmate. “We just want justice and answers,” Chante Roney, his sister, said at the hearing.

The Department of Corrections said Thursday that officials have identified a suspect in Roney’s death, but the investigation is ongoing.

The Alabama prison system has long come under criticism for high rates of violence, crowding and chronic understaffing. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in 2020 against Alabama arguing that conditions in the prison system — which the Justice Department called one of the most understaffed and violent in the country — are so poor that they violate the ban on cruel and unusual punishment.