Anamosa State Penitentiary names new warden

The Iowa Board of Corrections voted Friday to appoint Jeremy Larson as the next warden of the Anamosa State Penitentiary in Anamosa.

Larson will succeed Bill Sperfslage, who was selected earlier this year to serve as the Iowa Department of Corrections deputy director of institutions, the department announced Friday.

Larson starts his Anamosa role Monday and will be paid about $129,800 a year.

Larson has served as deputy warden at the Newton Correctional Facility since July 2016.

He started his career with the state in 1999 as a correctional officer at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility. He has since served as a correctional counselor, assistant unit manager and treatment services coordinator. the department reported.

'Our team at the Anamosa State Penitentiary deserves a capable warden with a proven track-record of effective leadership, and that is what they will be getting with Warden Larson,” Iowa Corrections Director Beth Skinner said in a prepared statement.

Larson's appointment was recommended to the Corrections board by a department hiring committee.

The Anamosa penitentiary, opened in 1875, is a medium/maximum security institution that houses about 950 male offenders and has about 320 staff, the department reported. The prison offers a variety of educational and vocational opportunities, including an apprenticeship program that helps offenders get jobs after release.

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