NEWS

September 20, 2007
Aging Fort Madison prison gets visit from legislators

Crumbling concrete, inadequate plumbing and rusting metal were showcased Wednesday as state lawmakers toured the aging State Penitentiary here.

Their conclusion after spending most of the day exploring the prison, parts of which predate the Civil War, was that the state should build a new prison here or upgrade the existing facility, or perhaps do both, key legislators said.

"We're going to need some new space, and we are trying to figure out the best way to do that," said Rep. Todd Taylor, D-Cedar Rapids, co-chairman of a state prison system planning committee.

Sen. Eugene Fraise, D-Fort Madison, who shares leadership of the committee, said he believes security at the penitentiary is sufficient to protect the public from escapes. But he added that more space is needed to ease crowding within Iowa's prison system, which holds nearly 9,000 inmates.

"We probably need to build a new facility," Fraise said.

He also favors keeping most of the existing Fort Madison prison open, possibly shifting some inmates from the crowded Anamosa State Penitentiary to Fort Madison.

The legislative committee will not make its recommendations until this fall. Committee members plan to tour the women's prison at Mitchellville next month.

The committee's findings will be considered when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

The Iowa Board of Corrections on Monday recommended that the Legislature spend $290 million to upgrade state prison facilities. This would include construction of a new $121 million prison at Fort Madison, plus spending about $51 million to remodel and expand the Mitchellville prison.

The corrections board supported shutting down the maximum-security unit at Fort Madison, which holds 550 of Iowa's most dangerous convicts.

But the board also favored keeping open more recently built facilities at the Fort Madison prison complex, including a medium-security unit that houses 175 inmates and a medical unit that houses about 200 mentally ill and mentally retarded inmates.

The new 800-bed prison would probably be built on a state prison farm north of Fort Madison, just west of U.S. Highway 61.

The State Penitentiary was established in 1839 as a territorial prison. Some of the original facility that is still standing was viewed Wednesday by lawmakers during their tour.

They saw stone-walled cellhouses built in the early 1900s, where the floors are badly worn from decades of use and showers overflow because drainage systems cannot handle so much water.

They also saw cellhouse ceilings with peeling paint because of high humidity and crumbling concrete at various places throughout the facility.

The old prison lacks most of the security and safety improvements of a modern facility handling maximum-security inmates, state prison officials said. While the penitentiary has served the state well, the prison's physical structure is deteriorating rapidly, officials added.

Danny Homan, president of Council 61 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents many of the prison workers at Fort Madison, urged the legislative committee not to close the existing penitentiary if a new prison is constructed.

"We have to create more space to put inmates in," to ease crowded conditions in the prison system, Homan said.

Iowa's prisons on Wednesday held 8,927 inmates, which was 22 percent over the prison system's rated capacity.

Homan also said it is critical to provide sufficient staffing to properly operate the prisons.

Rep. Wayne Ford, D-Des Moines, who serves on the study committee, said public safety is the "No. 1 issue in this state."

But he added that he is concerned about a disproportionate percentage of blacks incarcerated in Iowa's prisons. He also said he wants to stop what he called the "revolving door" of offenders who repeatedly enter prison and serve their time, only to return with new convictions.

Iowa Corrections Director John Baldwin said he favors upgrading the state's community corrections programs as well as building new prisons and offering better treatment programs for inmates.

"We want to make sure that when offenders come to us they have an improved chance of not returning to us," Baldwin said.

Rep. Dave Tjepkes, R-Gowrie, who serves on the committee, predicted that infrastructure issues will be a priority during the 2008 legislative session. This includes not only prison construction, but a need for more money for highway projects, as well as local needs for sewer and water projects, he said.

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