Legislature Agrees on $7 Million Budget Increase for Iowa Prison System

Republican legislators have sent the governor a budget plan for Iowa’s justice system and it includes a seven million dollar spending increase for the state’s prisons. 

Democrats like Representative Todd Prichard of Charles City say the murders of two Anamosa prison employees by two inmates attempting an escape last year should have prompted a higher amount to address on-going staff shortages. 

Republican Representative Gary Worthan of Storm Lake says lawmakers immediately provided the prison system 20 million dollars last year.

At the end of April, there were more than 200 job openings for correctional officers.

The director of the Department of Corrections recently hired a recruiting director and plans to set up a booth at the State Fair as a way to spread the word in person about job openings.

story courtesy of Radio Iowa