Today was an opportunity for people to get a look at the new Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison.
The prison is located off 330th Avenue, which is somewhat outside of town, unlike the current penitentiary that sits next to a put-putt golf attraction.
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds spoke at the Open House ceremony this morning. Branstad mentioned the eco-friendliness of the new prison…
“The new facility has achieved the leadership in energy and environmental designs “gold status”. It’s one of the few prisons in the whole United State of America to achieve this energy efficiency status, something you all should be proud of.”
The new Iowa State Penitentiary will house close to 780 offenders at one time. The current facility, which opened in 1839 can only house around 550.
Kim Reynolds spoke about a new unit in the prison…
“It will have health care and treatment opportunities that will improve the life of the offenders. There will be a special unit for the offenders with mental health illness who are refusing to participate in a treatment. The goal of this new unit is to encourage the offenders to participate in treatment programs so they can become successful in treatment programs prior to their release from prison.”
The tentative plan is to move prisoners to the new facility in March of next year.
