Branstad: Staffing isn’t reason for meth reaching prisoners

DES MOINES - Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad says he is concerned by reports the drug methamphetamine is being smuggled into state prisons, but he pushes back at the suggestion the problem has arisen because the state's prisons are insufficiently staffed.

Branstad said Monday smuggled contraband of any type is a constant concern and state corrections officers are 'vigilant” in attempting to stop such trafficking.

But Branstad said he does not think the issue is insufficient staffing at the state prisons, as the head of the state's largest public employees labor union has suggested.

Branstad said that since he returned to office in 2010, state prison staff levels have increased while the inmate population has decreased.

'We are continuing to work to make sure that we have adequate level of staffing and that staff have the right training,” Branstad said Monday at his weekly news conference. 'But you're dealing with some very dangerous people that have committed violent and serious crimes, and we want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to protect the safety of the people of this state from those people that are in the correction system.”

According to a news release from AFSCME Iowa Council 61, which represents 40,000 Iowa public employees, including correctional officers, four inmates at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville recently tested positive for meth and 'several” inmates have been found with oxycodone and tobacco.

The union charges the drugs are being smuggled into prisoners by visitors, who understaffed officers are not able to adequately search.

'The cause and effect here is alarming,” AFSCME Iowa Council 61 President Danny Homan said in a news release. 'When the Department of Corrections is underfunded, we eliminate and don't replace security staff. When our prisons are understaffed, we end up with lax security procedures. When we shortchange security, our facilities are not safe. When our facilities are not safe, fellow inmates, staff, and the public are all in jeopardy.”

Roughly a year ago, a former corrections officer pleaded guilty to accepting bribes to smuggle into Anamosa State Penitentiary contraband including prescription drugs and tobacco. In February the guard was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison.

The Department of Corrections said the Iowa Medical and Classification Center is reviewing and investigating the latest incident, which it considers 'critical,” and will work to ensure a similar incident does not happen again, according to a spokesman.

Branstad said his administration plans to continue evaluating the corrections system in order to prevent similar incidents.

'I really think what we need to do is constantly look at our system and how it can be improved and how the training can be improved,” Branstad said.