Iowa Considers $240 Million Prison Proposal

DES MOINES, Iowa — State Legislators will consider a $240 million prison construction plan after a joint House-Senate committee endorsed a proposal designed to alleviate overcrowding in the state’s correctional system.

In a 7-2 November vote, the State Prison System Study Committee endorsed the recommendations of a study conducted by Durrant’s Des Moines office. Housing almost 9,000 inmates in nine facilities, Iowa ‘s prison system is operating at approximately 20 percent above capacity, officials say.

The Durrant recommendations, which are backed by the state’s Board of Corrections, include the construction of a new $121 million maximum-security facility on land at the state penitentiary in Fort Madison.

The study also recommends investing more than $50 million to centralize statewide operations for the female inmate population at the existing Mitchellville facility, which holds almost 600 inmates. Older facilities at the prison would be demolished or modernized and capacity expanded.

Under the proposal, a new 400-bed housing unit would increase Newton Correctional Facility’s 1,200-inmate capacity at a cost of $25 million. An additional $42 million would be spent to expand housing capacity by more than 200 beds at community correctional facilities in Des Moines, Ottumwa, Sioux City and Waterloo.

In addition to expanding prison capacity, the legislative committee urged legislators to expand community corrections and diversion initiatives, such as drug courts, substance abuse and mental health services, and education and training programs.

Knoxville Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Independence Mental Health Institute were proposed as potential treatment centers or community corrections facilities for the state prison system.