ALICEVILLE – Alabama is getting a new federal lockup, so says the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. The agency said a medium-security prison for women will be built 2 miles north of Aliceville in Pickens County. The facility would house 1,400 inmates.

According to Democratic state Rep. Alan Harper of Aliceville, the prison will mean the addition of 350 new jobs to Black Belt communities.

The project is expected to cost about $200 million and be completed in 2011.

Alabama already has two federal prisons for men. They are located in Talladega and Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery.