ORDER AND OPINION

MYRON H. THOMPSON, District Judge.

Previously, this court required the firm Warren Averett to submit recommendations to the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) related to correctional officer "recruitment and retention," and ordered defendants to file the recommendations with the court and then implement them. See Understaffing Remedial Order (doc. no. 1657) at 3. Defendants publicly filed the Warren Averett report with certain portions redacted, including the recommended salary increases for correctional staff. Before the court is plaintiffs' motion to unseal the redacted portions of the Warren Averett report.

Because the public's interest in accessing the redacted sections outweighs defendants' interest in confidentiality, the court will grant plaintiffs' motion to unseal the entire report. The court will detail its reasoning in an opinion to follow. However, at present, it bears noting that the public has an enormous interest in accessing the recommended compensation increases, in light of the current legislative and administrative deliberations over correctional compensation, and the public's strong interest in overseeing government spending. Furthermore, defendants' interest in confidentiality is significantly diminished by the fact that they have already voluntarily disclosed to the public information indicating that they will increase compensation for correctional officers. Specifically, an ADOC document publicly available online states that it is requesting from the legislature funding for its 2020 Fiscal Year Budget to account for a 20 % pay raise for security staff. In addition, in April 2018, defendants publicly filed the expert report by Dr. Stephen Condrey, which recommends correctional compensation increases similar to those recommended by Warren Averett. Like the Warren Averett report, defendants are also ordered to implement the Condrey report.

A final reason to unseal worth noting here is that information that defendants claim must remain confidential is already public in other areas of the Warren Averett report that defendants conceded need not remain redacted, or was never even redacted in the first place.

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Accordingly, it is ORDERED that plaintiffs' motion to unseal the Warren Averett report (doc. no. 2157) is granted. Defendants shall immediately unseal the Warren Averett report in its entirety. A more detailed opinion will follow.