After the second Newton Correctional Facility escape in the past six weeks, a union representative has called for the revisiting of an old topic: staffing levels at Iowa’s state prisons.
Two inmates from Newton’s correctional release center walked away from the facility Saturday evening, and were still at-large at press time Tuesday. The other recent escape occurred Jan. 23 when an inmate left the facility and was later apprehended in Des Moines.
Monday afternoon, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Iowa Council 61 President Danny Homan called for action to address staffing levels at the Newton facility.
“This demonstrates the consequences of critically low staffing levels in Iowa’s correctional system,” Homan said. “The staffing levels have been going down and this trend needs to stop.”
Inmates at the Correctional Release Center — Newton Correctional Facility’s minimum-security half, devoted to inmates in the final stages of short or medium-length sentences — are not permitted to leave the grounds on their own at any time. If they work offsite, they are to be picked up and supervised by their employer’s trained staff. Inmates at this facility should be supervised by DOC or their employer at all times.
“The escape of these two individuals is a serious matter,” Homan said. “Five years ago, the Department of Corrections discontinued running an around-the-clock perimeter vehicle patrol around the Correctional Release Center at Newton Correctional Facility due to low staffing levels. After this escape on Saturday, the perimeter was finally reinstituted on Sunday.”
Fred Scaletta, communications director for the Department of Corrections, said there are no plans to directly address the AFSCME’s concerns.
“The Department continues to review the circumstances of the escape and has no comment regarding the recent AFSCME press release at this time,” Scaletta said.
Homan said he believes there may be plans to further reduce staffing levels.
“Additionally, the broken inmate classification system, which the DOC changed a few years back, is pushing inmates from higher security settings to lower security settings before they are ready,” Homan said. “The pattern of misclassification of inmates in a hurried attempt to get them out of prison is a serious problem that needs to be addressed.
“Due to the failure of the DOC to staff DOC Institutions and Community Based Corrections facilities adequately, the citizens of the Newton area and the State of Iowa now have to worry about two convicted felons being on the loose somewhere in Iowa. Does anyone remember the Clarinda Correctional Facility escape in 2013?” Homan said.
Iowa Rep. Dan Kelley (D-Newton) said he opposed a 2015 appropriations bill because it didn't fully address the needs at Jasper County's only state prison.
"While we haven’t started debating the budget this year, there was discussion on the appropriate staffing levels at our prisons last year, including the Newton Correctional Facility," Kelley said. "I opposed Senate File 497 last year because I don’t believe it provided adequate funding to keep the staff and public safe in Newton. I firmly believe that low staffing levels at Newton are part of the problem.”
Iowa Sen. Chaz Allen (D-Newton) could not be reached for comment on this topic.
Newton Correctional Facility Warden Terry Mapes and Deputy Warden Jill Dursky both recently announced their retirements, and their last official day was Monday. Mapes said he wouldn’t comment on staffing levels or any other departmental business, but he said staffing is not at its former level.
He said the maximum number of Newton Correctional Facility staff was 391. This month, with as high an inmate count as it’s ever had, the facility had about 250 staff.
A temporary warden is coming in to oversee the Newton facility while a search is underway for a permanent replacement, Mapes said.
Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com