NEWS

November 26 , 2007
Iowa Prison Overhaul Could Make More Room At Sioux City Center

Ever since an escape at Iowa's maximum security prison, in November of 2005, the security of the state's prison system has been a concern.

There are new recommendations on how solve that problem, and it could mean the expansion of one Sioux City residential treatment facility.

As jails continue to be overcrowded, so do the halfway houses and work-release facilities where many inmates are supposed to serve their parole.

So instead, they're waiting out their time behind bars.

Sioux City's Water Street Correctional Facility wouldn't be the first place most people would choose to spend their Thanksgiving. AJ Boy's waited for months to get a spot here.

Boy says, "I never knew when I was gonna get out,” of jail and start serving his parole.
"They pretty much just had me wait my whole time in jail. It was a dead time. Like, I wasn't sentenced, and when I did get sentenced they said I'd have to wait for a bed opening here at RTF," Boy explains.

He’s not alone.

"We have here about a three to six month waiting list," says Corrections Department Director Linn Hall.

Recently, a legislative committee voted unanimously to expand bed capacity at four correctional facilities in the state, including this one in Sioux City.

The proposal to expand the state's correctional facilities is just a small piece of a larger puzzle. The board wants Iowa lawmakers to devote 240 million dollars to expand, construct, and maintain the state's prison system, including a new maximum-security prison in Fort Madison.

Hall says the expansion is necessary to reducing the strain on the state's prison system, "By us having less space available it doesn't allow the parole board nor prison authority to move people that might be ready out of that system more quickly."

Although this facility was only built 16 years ago, Hall says there's no way he could fit 40 extra beds on the floor. An addition would be necessary, more staff would have to be hired, and officials haven't ruled out building a brand new center in the parking lot they own across the street.

Hall's not making any plans just yet. He'll wait to see what state lawmakers think about.

BACK TO NEWS PAGE