Corrections chief: Supplemental funds needed to keep current prison staffing

DES MOINES - There's $14.2 million in supplemental money earmarked for Iowa's prison system yet this fiscal year, and the state's corrections chief would like to see it sooner rather than later.

John Baldwin, director of the Department of Corrections, said the funding - which would restore a cut ordered in January by former Gov. Chet Culver - is needed to maintain the agency's current staffing level through June 30.

The money is included in a $45.7 million supplemental spending measure that has gotten bogged down in partisan gridlock as majority Democrats in the Iowa Senate and majority Republicans in the Iowa House try to work through differences holding up Senate File 209.

“There is some point in the future where we have to have that money,” Baldwin said.

He said the number of prison staffers, now at about 2,820, slipped from 3,064 in fiscal 2009 to 2,811 last fiscal year due to ongoing budget cuts and an early-retirement incentive that created a surge in vacancies. Baldwin said he'd completed up to 250 new hires before budget concerns halted further expansion last fall.

The inmate count at Iowa's nine prisons on Tuesday stood at 8,987 - nearly 25 percent higher than the design capacity of 7,209 offenders.

Baldwin said the supplemental money would ensure his agency can keep its current staffing levels, while fiscal 2012 plans put forward by Gov. Terry Branstad and legislators could fund up to 43 new correctional officers next fiscal year.

Meanwhile, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 61 issued a statement urging state officials to “get serious” about addressing staffing issues at the prisons. The message came after one inmate stabbed another Friday at the Iowa State Penitentiary maximum-security facility in Fort Madison.

Corrections spokesman Fred Scaletta said the unidentified victim's injury was “not life-threatening,” and the inmate was treated at Fort Madison Community Hospital. Corrections officials said it appeared to be an isolated but serious incident.

“While this incident did not result in the harm of any correctional officers or staff, we believe it is only a matter of time before we see an incident when staff is seriously hurt - or worse,” according to the union statement. “Iowa's prisons are already understaffed, and the Department of Corrections has done nothing to address this problem. Correctional staff put their lives on the line every day to protect Iowans, and the least that state government can do is ensure adequate staffing levels to protect both the inmate population and those who have chosen this high-risk and at times, thankless job.”

Baldwin credited the department's staff with doing an exceptional job managing the prison system. In a presentation to lawmakers this session, he noted that critical incident reports had increased 23 percent since the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, while reported assaults and physical altercations were up 62.5 percent in that time.

“It certainly is a trend we want to reverse,” he said this week.