Search underway for four inmates who escaped Alabama correctional center

The escape from the Perry County Correctional PREP Center in Uniontown, Alabama, put a spotlight on a basic public-safety question: how four inmates, held under county custody arrangements and facing serious charges, managed to get out in the first place. Law enforcement was alerted at about 1 a.m. local time on May 30, 2026, after the breach was reported from the facility in Perry County.

The Perry County Sheriff’s Office identified the men as Marquavious Billingsley, Jaden Christopher Maxwell, Johnny Dave Harris Bush Jr. and Kevin Gunn. Officials said the four were inmates from Dallas County, Alabama, and were being held at the PREP center under an agreement with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department. PREP stands for Parole and Probation Reentry Education and Employment Program Center, a name that underscores the site’s role in housing people in a supervised correctional setting rather than a local jail cell.

The men were being held on a mix of charges that included murder, first-degree robbery, breaking and entering vehicles, first-degree escape, first-degree assault and promoting prison contraband. That combination raised immediate questions about the level of custody, staffing and security oversight at the center, especially given that the inmates were being housed outside Dallas County under an inter-county arrangement.

Perry County Sheriff Roy Fikes said deputies and assisting agencies were actively working to locate and apprehend the escapees. Authorities urged the public to call 911 immediately and not attempt to approach the men. The search drew in multiple law enforcement partners as officials tried to close off any movement routes and locate the four as quickly as possible.

The Alabama Department of Corrections maintains an escape-notification page and directs media outlets seeking escape alerts to its Public Information Manager. The state’s guidance also tells anyone who knows an inmate’s immediate location to call 911 or local police, a protocol that reflects the urgency surrounding any breach involving escaped prisoners.