Daveswife
05-24-2002, 08:16 PM
This information from Iowa CURE is forwarded by Virginia CURE
(Please send email to Virginia CURE if you wish to be removed from this list.)
> See article below. Peace, JEan
>
> Jean Basinger, 1335 48th St., Des Moines, Iowa 50311
>
> Director of prisons wants inmate numbers reduced
>
By WILLIAM PETROSKI <mailto:petroskiw@news.dmreg.com?Subject=Online:
> Director of prisons wants inmate numbers reduced>
> Register Staff Writer
> 05/04/2002
>
> Newton, Ia. - Iowa's corrections director said Friday he will ask parole
> officials to free hundreds of low-risk convicts by unofficially capping the
> state's prison population at 7,800 inmates.
> Iowa's nine prisons hold nearly 8,100 inmates, and the numbers are projected
> to increase in the months and years ahead because admissions have been
> outpacing releases. Corrections Director W.L. "Kip" Kautzky said the growth
> can't be maintained because of state budget cuts and the Iowa Legislature's
> refusal to revise criminal sentencing laws.
> "We can't play the fiddle at both ends," Kautzky told the Iowa Board of
> Corrections at the Newton Correctional Facility. "We can't manage high-risk
> offenders and at the same time extend those resources to low-risk
> offenders."
> Nonviolent, low-risk offenders are generally considered to be people
> convicted of such crimes as theft, forgery, prostitution, drunken driving
> and some drug crimes. However, each inmate is individually evaluated for
> risk to public safety.
> Iowa's correction system has about 300 fewer workers compared with a year
> ago, making it more difficult to manage the state's prisons, Kautzky said.
> An example was an April 5 incident at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility
> during which fights broke out in the prison yard, he said. About 25 inmates,
> including some gang members, were confined to their cells afterward.
> "It was not a riot, but it was close to a major disturbance," Kautzky said.
> Most inmate incidents are quickly quashed by the first wave of correctional
> officers who respond. In this case, a second group of prison staff members
> was needed to restore order, he said.
> Elizabeth Robinson-Ford of Des Moines, chairwoman of the Iowa Board of
> Parole, said she is willing to consider releasing more inmates "as long as
> they are nonviolent and low risk." That could include some people convicted
> of drug crimes if they can be assigned to treatment in community programs,
> she said.
> Inmates who have committed violent crimes are a different matter, and "we
> will not compromise on those," Robinson-Ford said. She plans to meet with
> Kautzky late next week and will discuss the issues with other parole board
> members afterward, she said.
> Budget numbers
> The Iowa Department of Corrections has a $253 million annual budget that
> will be reduced to $243 million for the budget year that begins July 1. The
> impact of budget cuts will be greater than $10 million because the state
> agency faces significant cost increases for upcoming salary adjustments,
> Kautzky said.
> Iowa had an official cap on its prison population between 1981 and 1987. The
> ceiling - which limited Iowa's prisons to 2,789 inmates in its final year -
> was aimed at alleviating crowded conditions. The Iowa Legislature abolished
> the cap amid complaints that some dangerous criminals were receiving early
> releases, although researchers have subsequently shown there wasn't an
> overall increase in Iowa crime.
> Suellen Overton of Council Bluffs, a Democrat who is chairwoman of the Iowa
> Board of Corrections, scolded the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature for
> not satisfactorily addressing prison budget and sentencing issues during the
> past session.
> Powder keg
> "Now we are sitting on a powder keg," Overton warned.
> Sen. Jeff Angelo, a Creston Republican who is co-chairman of a legislative
> budget subcommittee, disputed Overton's comments. He said some parts of the
> state budget have been reduced by as much as 7 percent. But eight of Iowa's
> prisons sustained funding cuts for the coming fiscal year of less than 1
> percent, and the Fort Madison prison will see an increase in state spending,
> he said.
> "We have given them a budget which is entirely manageable," Angelo said.
> State Rep. Charles Larson Jr., a Cedar Rapids Republican and chairman of the
> Iowa House Judiciary Committee, said he has confidence in the parole board,
> but he doesn't believe Iowa's prisons are full of non-violent offenders. He
> said community corrections programs can be run more efficiently.
> "Public safety must remain state government's number one priority," Larson
> said.
(Please send email to Virginia CURE if you wish to be removed from this list.)
> See article below. Peace, JEan
>
> Jean Basinger, 1335 48th St., Des Moines, Iowa 50311
>
> Director of prisons wants inmate numbers reduced
>
By WILLIAM PETROSKI <mailto:petroskiw@news.dmreg.com?Subject=Online:
> Director of prisons wants inmate numbers reduced>
> Register Staff Writer
> 05/04/2002
>
> Newton, Ia. - Iowa's corrections director said Friday he will ask parole
> officials to free hundreds of low-risk convicts by unofficially capping the
> state's prison population at 7,800 inmates.
> Iowa's nine prisons hold nearly 8,100 inmates, and the numbers are projected
> to increase in the months and years ahead because admissions have been
> outpacing releases. Corrections Director W.L. "Kip" Kautzky said the growth
> can't be maintained because of state budget cuts and the Iowa Legislature's
> refusal to revise criminal sentencing laws.
> "We can't play the fiddle at both ends," Kautzky told the Iowa Board of
> Corrections at the Newton Correctional Facility. "We can't manage high-risk
> offenders and at the same time extend those resources to low-risk
> offenders."
> Nonviolent, low-risk offenders are generally considered to be people
> convicted of such crimes as theft, forgery, prostitution, drunken driving
> and some drug crimes. However, each inmate is individually evaluated for
> risk to public safety.
> Iowa's correction system has about 300 fewer workers compared with a year
> ago, making it more difficult to manage the state's prisons, Kautzky said.
> An example was an April 5 incident at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility
> during which fights broke out in the prison yard, he said. About 25 inmates,
> including some gang members, were confined to their cells afterward.
> "It was not a riot, but it was close to a major disturbance," Kautzky said.
> Most inmate incidents are quickly quashed by the first wave of correctional
> officers who respond. In this case, a second group of prison staff members
> was needed to restore order, he said.
> Elizabeth Robinson-Ford of Des Moines, chairwoman of the Iowa Board of
> Parole, said she is willing to consider releasing more inmates "as long as
> they are nonviolent and low risk." That could include some people convicted
> of drug crimes if they can be assigned to treatment in community programs,
> she said.
> Inmates who have committed violent crimes are a different matter, and "we
> will not compromise on those," Robinson-Ford said. She plans to meet with
> Kautzky late next week and will discuss the issues with other parole board
> members afterward, she said.
> Budget numbers
> The Iowa Department of Corrections has a $253 million annual budget that
> will be reduced to $243 million for the budget year that begins July 1. The
> impact of budget cuts will be greater than $10 million because the state
> agency faces significant cost increases for upcoming salary adjustments,
> Kautzky said.
> Iowa had an official cap on its prison population between 1981 and 1987. The
> ceiling - which limited Iowa's prisons to 2,789 inmates in its final year -
> was aimed at alleviating crowded conditions. The Iowa Legislature abolished
> the cap amid complaints that some dangerous criminals were receiving early
> releases, although researchers have subsequently shown there wasn't an
> overall increase in Iowa crime.
> Suellen Overton of Council Bluffs, a Democrat who is chairwoman of the Iowa
> Board of Corrections, scolded the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature for
> not satisfactorily addressing prison budget and sentencing issues during the
> past session.
> Powder keg
> "Now we are sitting on a powder keg," Overton warned.
> Sen. Jeff Angelo, a Creston Republican who is co-chairman of a legislative
> budget subcommittee, disputed Overton's comments. He said some parts of the
> state budget have been reduced by as much as 7 percent. But eight of Iowa's
> prisons sustained funding cuts for the coming fiscal year of less than 1
> percent, and the Fort Madison prison will see an increase in state spending,
> he said.
> "We have given them a budget which is entirely manageable," Angelo said.
> State Rep. Charles Larson Jr., a Cedar Rapids Republican and chairman of the
> Iowa House Judiciary Committee, said he has confidence in the parole board,
> but he doesn't believe Iowa's prisons are full of non-violent offenders. He
> said community corrections programs can be run more efficiently.
> "Public safety must remain state government's number one priority," Larson
> said.