The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

But some of the Legislature's minority Republicans differ with Culver, contending other Iowa communities should be considered during this year's legislative session, which starts today, to provide the best deal for the public. In the 1990s, under Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, communities competed for prisons eventually built in Fort Dodge and Newton.

"We have a fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers," said state Rep. Lance Horbach, a Tama Republican who serves on a legislative prison budget subcommittee.

While Fort Madison's location on the Mississippi River made it a prime site in the 1800s when steamboats were a major mode of travel, that's not true now, Horbach said. One problem, he said, is that Fort Madison is almost 90 miles from University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City and it's costly to transport sick prisoners back and forth.

Other critics said Fort Madison's location in extreme southeast Iowa makes it a hardship for families to visit inmates, requiring a two-day trip from Sioux City and other places in northwest Iowa. Also, prison officials acknowledge it's difficult to recruit professionals to Fort Madison because of its rural location.

Iowa Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal, a Council Bluffs Democrat, said last week he wouldn't rule out the Republican proposal to consider other communities, but he wondered if some Republicans were playing political games by suggesting the new prison could be built elsewhere. Fort Madison is unique because it hosts Iowa's only maximum security prison with inmates serving very long terms, he said.

"I think our caucus would likely vote pretty resoundingly" against allowing other Iowa communities to compete for the new maximum security prison, Gronstal said.

State Rep. David Tjepkes, a Gowrie Republican who was on a legislative prison study committee, said he's willing to consider Fort Madison for a new maximum security prison. But lawmakers need to explore more options, including phasing out the Fort Madison prison while expanding other Iowa correctional facilities, he said.

"A lot of folks at the state Capitol are all for consolidation when they talk about our local schools and that sort of thing. I think that same sort of principle should be explored with our state prisons," Tjepkes said.

Horbach proposes constructing a new maximum security prison at Newton, where there are already facilities for minimum and medium custody inmates. This would allow a smooth transition for convicts as they made progress or caused trouble, reducing transportation costs, while sharing fixed expenses to run three modern facilities, he said. Health care could be provided by University Hospitals or Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines, he suggested.

Culver still supports Fort Madison for a new maximum security prison, said Brad Anderson, the governor's communications director. "He believes Fort Madison is an appropriate location for a new prison because there is a highly-qualified, built-in work force capable of meeting the security challenges that go along with a maximum security prison," Anderson said.

The possibility that Fort Madison could lose the Iowa State Penitentiary sends chills through the town's 11,476 residents, who have already witnessed the loss of several major employers. This includes Fruehauf Trailers; Sheaffer Pen, which will be fully closed in March; and the Catfish Bend Casino riverboat, which shut down in November after 13 years docked in Fort Madison. The unemployment rate in Lee County in November was 5.6 percent, fourth-highest among Iowa's 99 counties.

The penitentiary is a major employer here, providing recession-proof jobs for 530 people.

"The prison has been a lifeline for our community, and it would be tragic to lose it. It's been a blessing, even though we've had some scary times" with escapes and other incidents, said Sue Saunders, co-owner of the Ivy Bake Shoppe & Cafe in downtown Fort Madison. She counts many prison employees as regular customers.

Mike O'Tool, a senior correctional officer and a canine handler, is a graduate of Fort Madison High School who has worked at the penitentiary for seven years. He contends a new prison should be built in Fort Madison to keep the jobs here. "The staff here is great. You can count on them for anything," O'Tool said.

A proposal to construct a new, 800-bed maximum security prison at Fort Madison was endorsed by a 7-2 vote in November by a bipartisan legislative study committee. The Iowa Board of Corrections had earlier backed the plan. Other communities weren't considered because of Culver's unequivocal support for Fort Madison, prison officials said.

The push to construct a new prison to replace the antiquated Fort Madison penitentiary developed after two dangerous convicts made a daring escape in November 2005, fleeing over a 30-foot limestone wall. They were later recaptured in Illinois and Missouri.

The recommendation for a new maximum security prison assumes the Fort Madison penitentiary complex would continue to host adjacent prison units for medium security convicts and mentally ill prisoners, and a nearby prison farm in Montrose. The legislative committee and corrections board also endorsed expansions and upgrades of state prisons in Mitchellville and Newton, as well as expansions of community corrections facilities. The total package would cost an estimated $240 million.

Mike Wilkens, a correctional officer who has worked at the Fort Madison penitentiary since 1983, questions the idea that a new maximum security prison is even needed. Prison consultants, though, have had a different view, pointing out that new institutions can be staffed more efficiently and are less costly to operate.

"This is still a good institution. We have good, qualified staff here, and they have put a lot of money into this place," Wilkens said.

Rhonda Faeth, whose family has owned Faeth's Cigar Store in downtown Fort Madison since 1910, said she is already angry at Culver because of his support for a $1 per pack increase in cigarette taxes approved last year. The tax hike has meant droves of border-state smokers now head to Missouri instead of Fort Madison to buy cigarettes, she said.

Faeth won't forgive Culver if a new maximum security prison is built somewhere else.

"He needs to keep the prison here. Our town is hurting bad enough," she said.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/NEWS10/
801140321/-1/NEWS04