Iowa’s Building Plans Move Ahead
Iowa Corrections staff will begin selecting engineers and architects by November for a $228 million package of prison construction projects that include a $131 million maximum-security 800-bed prison in Fort Madison that won’t begin housing prisoners until 2014, said John Baldwin, the department’s director.
Among the plans approved by lawmakers are an upgrade to the state women’s prison at Mitchellville and an easing of prison crowding with room for more offenders in community corrections facilities in Waterloo, Sioux City and Ottumwa. Consultants will also search for suitable sites in the Des Moines area to house about 170 offenders on probation, parole and work-release.
Baldwin said the plans call for better treatment programs for inmates with mental and substance abuse problems, as well as improved community re-entry services to help ex-convicts leaving prison. “We have the opportunity to make some major system improvements. We are going to take that very, very seriously.”
See more details at the Chicago Tribune.