Iowa prisons have been cut too far; they need more staff and fewer inmates

By The Des Moines Register

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When politicians talk about shrinking government, they rarely specify what size it should be, only that there should be less of it. But how small is small enough? Will there come a point when there are too few government workers?

A state union leader says Iowa prisons have reached that point.

He's right. Lawmakers must address what appears to be a dangerous underfunding of the Iowa Department of Corrections.

Danny Homan, president of Council 61 of AFSCME, said “extreme understaffing” is putting prison workers, the public and inmates at risk. He has received numerous reports about staff shortages in prisons contributing to more gang activity, assaults and the use of force. When the Des Moines Register spoke with him recently, he described the brutal beating of 67-year-old inmate by a younger inmate.

“I'm hearing from everyone,” he said.

When asked how many more corrections workers should be added, Homan said 600, but he'd settle for 300.

That sounds about right. The total number of staff in institutions has decreased by hundreds in the past few years. Yet in June, Iowa's prison system held a record 9,009 inmates - nearly 2,000 more than it is designed to hold. The state department is also responsible for about 29,000 offenders statewide who are on probation, parole or in work-release programs.

What Homan and other leaders should also be pushing for: reducing the prison population in Iowa. Fewer prisoners require fewer staff to supervise them. If Iowa is going to have smaller government, it should be doing all it can to decrease demand for government services.

In corrections, elected and governor-appointed officials can have a direct impact on this “demand.” Repeal mandatory minimum sentences that take discretion from judges and send more people to prison for longer periods of time. Encourage the Iowa Board of Parole (including the three new members appointed by Gov. Terry Branstad) to retain only those offenders who pose a threat to society. Invest more in programs that keep people out of prison.

Iowa can't impose and maintain laws designed to “get tough on crime” and then underfund the system responsible for overseeing criminals.

Doing that only makes it harder for the state to rehabilitate inmates - something every Iowan should care about. It's easy for the general public to forget that most of the people now serving time behind bars will eventually be released. Of the nearly 9,000 inmates, only about 650 of them are serving life terms. The rest of them will eventually be our neighbors.

Do you want to live next door to someone who didn't get help for his mental health problems? Or was locked in a small room for hours on end for years because there were no guards to supervise common areas? Or joined a gang because he felt that was the only way to protect himself?

Underfunding corrections has another consequence, according to a member of the Iowa Board of Corrections: Those who are ready for parole can't leave prison because of the state budget.

Johnnie Hammond, a corrections board member and former state lawmaker, told the Register that paroled inmates are not being released because there is no room in programs outside the prison walls, including halfway houses, to transition them back into the community. She said community-based programs exist, but their operating expenses are not being funded. The state said this is not happening, but Hammond says that's what she's hearing from workers in community-based corrections. She said programs are “desperate for staff.”

After years of budget cuts, there are now too few state workers to safely and effectively operate the state prison system. In the short term, there should be more staff. In the long run, there should be fewer prisoners.