Iowa’s prison population edges upward

DES MOINES - While it's not as high as the alarming levels of a few years ago, Iowa's prison population crept higher each of the past three fiscal years - going against efforts to make it decrease instead.

The number of inmates housed in Iowa's nine prisons stood at 8,217 when fiscal 2015 ended June 30 - up about 1.2 percent, or 100 prisoners, from the previous year, said Lettie Prell, the department's director of research.

Though the most recent period saw declines in both admissions and releases, more were put in prison than let out - and combined with the prisoners already there, the overall population rose slightly.

Iowa's inmate population at institutions in Anamosa, Clarinda, Fort Dodge, Mitchellville, Oakdale, Fort Madison, Mount Pleasant, Newton and Rockwell City still is significantly lower than the record-high count of 9,009 on April 9, 2011.

Nonetheless, prisons remain too crowded. The state's facilities are designed to accommodate 7,322 prisoners - a 12.5 percent crowding rate this year that takes into account the new Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison in August.

'Obviously, we're looking for a decrease if possible, but I guess a slower growth is a good thing,” said Steve Michael, administrator of the state Department of Human Rights' division of criminal and juvenile justice planning.

A significant change in the fiscal 2015 data was an 11.6 percent decline in new commitments, as well as a 4.2 percent drop in probation revocations.

However, those decreases were offset by higher return numbers for offenders on parole, work release, special sentences or serving time in an OWI facility, Prell said.

Michael said his division still is analyzing the data so he was uncertain what was behind the drop in new commitments -- a change that could reflect fewer serious crimes being committed, alternative sentencing options being used by the court, or other factors that may determine whether an offender is sent to community-based corrections rather than prison.

Corrections officials note that more emphasis has been placed recently on better risk assessments for offenders; better coordination between corrections and parole officials, as well as re-entry programs that prepare people sooner for release that have produced return rates that are lower than the national average.

On the release side, offenders placed in work release rose by 12.2 percent last fiscal year. But 300 fewer inmates were granted paroles, and sentence re-considerations - called shock probation - were down 12.5 percent, according to DOC data.

Last year, the criminal and juvenile justice planning division projected that Iowa's prison population could grow by 39 percent over the next 10 years to an estimated 11,317 by mid-2024 if no changes are made to sentencing and incarceration policies.

While the growth rate has been slow these last few years, other factors influence trends.

Mandatory minimums, tougher sentencing for sex offenders, a rise in drug offenders and the housing of 'lifers” convicted of Class A felonies are all factors.

'The thing that I think has pushed the forecast up over the last year or two has been the length of sentence for some of these offenders,” Michael said. 'It's not only just who's in there now, but for how long are they going to be in there, and that's what we have to look at.”

Last month, Gov. Terry Branstad touted improvements in reducing the prison population and rate of released inmates who reoffend.

The governor noted that the corrections agency has reduced the rate of recidivism of black offenders from 37.6 percent in 2011 to 30.2 percent last year - a level that was 'virtually equal” to the rate for white offenders.

He also said prison officials are working with the parole board and community-based corrections agencies to decrease the overall inmate population through a combination of offender-rehabilitation programs and risk assessments.

Branstad has formed a working group to research and make recommendations on ways to improve the state's criminal justice practices by addressing disparities that minorities and disadvantaged Iowans face.