NEWS

April 01, 2010
Prisons see budget boost Lawmakers approve funds to rehire some counselors, staff.

Lawmakers left an additional $23.2 million in the Iowa Department of Corrections' coffers Tuesday when they walked out the doors of the Capitol.

The funds will allow the DOC to restore some of the positions, including counselors, that were lost as a result of an across-the-board cut last fall, which aimed to help balance the budget in the current fiscal year.

"We do plan to hire back staff, and in that mix there will be counselor positions that we plan to hire back as well," said Brad Hier, DOC deputy director of administration.

The Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility laid off 10 sex offender counselors and four full-time management positions in January because of the cuts, which resulted in a reorganization of counselors and a reduction of beds for its sex offender treatment program.

The correctional facility will receive $26.5 million for operations in fiscal year 2011, which begins July 1. The amount is $1.77 million more than the estimated net appropriation in the current fiscal year, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency. The facility also received an appropriations adjustment of more than $415,000 in another bill.

The amount is still less than was originally appropriated for fiscal year 2010 by about $1.85 million, according to Hier. How the increases will turn into new jobs at the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility remains to be seen. "We still don't know the final details as to what the budget's going to look like," MPCF Superintendent Ron Mullen said.

While the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison faced the same cuts, it lost fewer counselors to the budget reduction. In the upcoming fiscal year, ISP will receive nearly $40 million, which is an increase of about $3 million compared to the net fiscal year appropriation for 2010. It also received an additional appropriation of $764,000 in another bill.

The concern now at DOC, according to Sen. Gene Fraise, D-Fort Madison, is the number of correctional officers leaving as a result of early retirements. State employees have until April 15 to decide whether to take the incentive. "I don't know how many are gone, but we're certainly going to put new hires in their place, so we won't drop those numbers any more," Fraise said.

"We have to keep at least that many there." Mullen estimated about 20 to 25 staff members are considering early retirement, with a total staff of about 320. In the corrections budget, the state requires that the department make every effort to preserve correctional officers through reducing administrative costs.

Hier said once the total number of early retirements are known the department will evaluate any additional hiring. In the meantime, he said DOC will begin looking at recalling some staff that were lost to the cuts as soon as possible. Any new, or non-recalled, staff will be begin to be hired when the new fiscal year begins on July 1.

"We're looking right now at hiring back about 220, 221 positions total," Hier said, adding there are more than 400 vacancies that combine both laid off people and vacancies. Construction ahead Corrections also received funds in the state's budget to begin work on construction efforts in both Mount Pleasant and Fort Madison.

The state had planned since 2008 to build a new prison in Fort Madison. Those efforts will get under way with a groundbreaking sometime this month. It was expected to be completed in 2014, but Fraise now says it could be as soon as 2013.

Fraise said the money was nearly removed until he realized it and made the other lawmakers aware that if the funds were removed, construction would not begin this year.

The facility received more than $130 million in one prison bond and additional dollars in other funds that are combined with efforts to renovate the women's prison in Mitchellville. Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility also received funds to remodel its kitchen and dining area.

Mullen said the facility will start construction in July and expects it will be 12 months until completion.

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