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News
Less
Inmates Incarcerated in Iowa
Posted 5 July 2008
Corrections officials in Iowa announced earlier this week that the
state's prisons ended fiscal 2008 with fewer inmates.
The reduction in population, an unusual occurrence, was directly
affected by a drop in the number of court-ordered prison terms and
fewer offenders returning for parole or probation violations in the
state.
This week's official head count at state penal institutions stood at
8,740, which was 66 less than one year ago. It marks only the third
annual decline in 12 years. Inmate counts for both men and women fell
in fiscal 2008 compared with the previous year.
The overall yearly decline would have dropped by more than 200, but
corrections officials are temporarily housing about 140 Linn County
Jail inmates because of flooding that forced evacuations last month.
Officials aren't sure if the smaller numbers indicate that Iowans have
been committing fewer major crimes or if it just means more plea
bargains that divert offenders from prison or other factors were at
play.
Iowa prisons hit a record high population of 8,940 last fall for a
system with a design capacity of 7,414 beds.
The total inmate count is expected to decline slightly again this
fiscal year but will begin to work back up as sentencing changes
designed to keep certain felons and violate offenders behind bars for
longer periods of time start extending incarceration for inmates who
otherwise would have been eligible for release.
The Legislature earlier this year approved $130 million in bonding for
prison construction. The department's construction plans call for
upgrading the women's prison at Mitchellville by fiscal 2012 and
replacing the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison with a new
maximum-security facility by fiscal 2013 or fiscal 2014.
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