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| Iowa officials slowly cutting prison population |
| By businessweek.com - MIKE GLOVER |
| Published: 10/21/2011 |
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DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa's prison population has begun a slow decline as officials work to save money and reduce overcrowding. The Iowa Department of Corrections reported that on Thursday the state's prisons held 8,647 inmates, down from about 9,000 a year ago. The reductions reflect an effort supported by Gov. Terry Branstad and the state's parole board to cut the population to save money and deal with overcrowding that has prompted complaints by prison guards. "We had a lot of people coming in and we're trying to get people out more quickly," said Corrections spokesman Fred Scaletta. "The parole board is doing a good job of getting people out into the community." The move comes amid continued budget cuts across all state agencies. The Corrections Department saw its budget cut by $35.7 million in 2009 when then Gov. Chet Culver made an across-the-board cut of 10 percent to all state agencies. The department's budget was reduced by 3.8 percent cut in the previous year. Those reductions forced Corrections Department officials to reduce staffing and cut treatment programs, prompting warnings of dangerous conditions developing in Iowa's eight prisons. "They've got too many prisoners and not enough guards and it's a tinderbox," said Randall Wilson, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, which has advocated for prisoners. "The conditions of the prisons have been slowly deteriorating over the years." Danny Homan, head of the largest union representing state workers, has been especially critical of state officials, arguing that more corrections officers need to be hired immediately. "We have continuously attempted to have more staff, but the bottom line is it isn't happening," Homan said. This year, Branstad worked with the Legislature to restore $25 million, which lessened the need for even deeper staff cuts. By reducing the prison population, officials said they can save money and improve safety. "If we can get the population down a little bit it sure helps with staffing and so forth," Scaletta said. Scaletta said the board wasn't focusing on any certain type of offender but was taking an approach of paroling those deemed to be of little risk to the public. Read More. |
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