IOWA FACES PRISON WOES

Inmate fights and health issues are two problems that could worsen as
the overflow in Iowa prisons continues to rise over the next decade.

Already overcrowded prisons will experience even more growth in
inmate populations, pushing overflow up to 23.3 percent - or 1,688
inmates - by June 2006, according to the Iowa Criminal Justice and
Juvenile Planning.

This excess will rattle through both male and female cells, causing a
predicted overpopulation of 36.8 percent in female inmates and 22.2
percent male inmates.

And with time, the numbers are only expected to grow.

In 10 years, the prison population will rise to 10,329 inmates, the
report forecasted - increasing from the 8,577 inmates reported in 2005.

Cell capacity in the state is 7,238.

The report attributes the growing population to more stringent parole
qualifications, increases in the number of criminals, and longer prison stays.

Overcrowded cells leads to many of the internal problems in prisons,
such as fights, said Democratic Rep. Dave Jacoby of Coralville. He
added he was unsure whether overrun prisons lead to escapes, such as
the Nov. 14 breakout of two inmates in Fort Madison.

"Is it because we're too full or because we have faulty fences?" he
said. "Quite frankly, I do think we're going to have to increase the
budget for corrections."

Iowa City Police Chief Sam Hargadine said he would be interested to
see where the state could find money for new facilities with budget
cuts, noting that building new prisons is one possibility to handle
overcrowding.

There are also other venues for easing high numbers of inmates, such
as home detention, he said.

Lowell Brandt, the warden at the Iowa Medical & Classification Center
at Oakdale, said the numbers released by Criminal Justice and
Juvenile Planning tend to be incorrect because they are merely
predictions and don't take into account changing factors within in
the criminal-justice system.

Brandt said the inmate population is problematic in Oakdale, and
rising population can lead to more issues within prison walls.

"Any time admissions get more crowded, tensions go up; health
problems increase," he said. "Staff fatigue increases. That's not
unique to prison environments. If you double the occupancy of the
rooms in a college dormitory, I wouldn't be surprised if you had more
problems in the dorm."

Jacoby said under-funding is one of the main causes for problems in
the Oakdale facility.

"I think what happened is both parties talk a good political line,
but what we do not do is fund the correctional system adequately," he
said. "The public perception of what we want to do is lock them up,
but we don't want to pay for them."

Officials must determine whether or not an expansion is needed, he said.

"We have to review every year who we're sending to prison," Jacoby
said. "If we're short on beds to those who are most dangerous, then
we will have to build more beds."