NEWS

May 10, 2008
Culver signs bill for new prison

There was joy in southeast Iowa Friday, as Gov. Chet Culver signed legislation for $250 million in statewide construction projects that includes money for a new 800-bed maximum-security unit at the Iowa State Penitentiary.

"It is really great to celebrate something monumental," said Culver, who used about two dozen ink pens to make sure there were plenty of souvenirs afterward.
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Culver had pledged during his campaign for governor in 2006 that if a new maximum-security prison were built in Iowa, it would remain in Fort Madison. The prison employs 530 people who oversee about 1,100 inmates, and it is a cornerstone of southeast Iowa's economy.

About 75 people, including community leaders and prison employees, attended Friday's ceremony at the penitentiary. The legislation includes $131 million for a new maximum-security facility at Fort Madison, plus $68 million to upgrade the women's prison in Mitchellville. There is also money to expand community corrections facilities in Waterloo, Sioux City and Ottumwa, and to study an expansion in Des Moines.

In addition, the legislation appropriates $20 million for improvements at the Iowa Veterans Home at Marshalltown. The state money will be matched by $65 million in federal construction money for the veterans' facility, Culver said.

Community leaders here were elated to know the maximum-security prison will remain in Fort Madison. Minority Republican legislators had suggested the new prison be built in Iowa City or Newton, which are more centralized and closer to major health care facilities. The penitentiary was founded here in 1839 on the banks of the Mississippi River.

"It's a great day for Fort Madison," said Mayor Steve Ireland. "More importantly, I believe it is a great day for the employees. This day only comes along every 150 years or so. We can't be happier."

Tracy Vance, executive director of the Fort Madison Chamber of Commerce, wore a big grin on his face. He said he still has the document Culver signed two years ago, promising to keep the prison in Fort Madison.

"He has lived up to his word," Vance said.

The push to build a new prison to replace the antiquated facility in Fort Madison developed after two dangerous inmates made a daring escape over the penitentiary walls in November 2005.

State Sen. Eugene Fraise, a Fort Madison Democrat, was co-chairman of a prison study committee that recommended keeping the prison here. He said Friday that his work on the issue has been the highlight of his 23-year legislative career.

The new maximum-security unit will be built on a prison farm north of Fort Madison that is just west of U.S. Highway 61. Construction won't start for several years because of the need for complicated planning and design work. The new facility is scheduled to open in January 2014.

"We are going to try to build the best prison we can and make it a model for the country," said Fort Madison Warden John Ault.

The Rev. Carlos Jayne of Des Moines, a lobbyist for the Justice Reform Consortium, a coalition working on criminal justice issues, declined an invitation to attend the bill-signing ceremony.

"I'm against doing Fort Madison right now," said Jayne, who favors reducing the prison population through criminal sentencing reform and better treatment programs for mental illness and substance abuse. But he added he strongly supports upgrading facilities at the Mitchellville women's prison.

Culver toured the penitentiary after the bill-signing ceremony. He shook hands and chatted with staff and inmates. He was accompanied by several correctional officers, and one officer stood with a rifle in his hand outside a 30-foot-high tower on the prison wall as the governor walked through the yard.

After leaving Fort Madison, Culver flew to Bettendorf to sign an education budget bill. He was scheduled to stop later in Dubuque to sign legislation to create a new emergency responder pilot program.

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