Green Bay Correctional Institution | Photo by Andrew Kennard

Amidst a staffing crisis that worsened living conditions in Wisconsin prisons, the state gave corrections officers a large raise.  

The number of vacant positions for correctional officers and sergeants across adult institutions has declined over 20% from a peak of 35%. But there’s still a struggle with working conditions, former correctional officer Joe Verdegan said. 

“By its nature, with the clientele you have there, it’s a very toxic environment,” said Verdegan, who worked at Green Bay Correctional Institution from 1994 to 2020. “The toxic part of it will never change, but the problem is, you need veteran staff that can deal with it.” 

Wisconsin’s Act 10, passed in 2011, excluded many government workers from collective bargaining for anything other than inflationary increases to base wages. The law led to an exodus of veteran staff concerned about what might happen to their pensions, Verdegan wrote in a 2020 book about GBCI.

Act 10 grouped some workers together as public safety employees and others as general employees. Public safety employees’ collective bargaining rights were largely unchanged, while those of general employees were severely curtailed. 

Dane County Judge Jacob Frost struck down the law’s collective bargaining restriction, ruling that the Wisconsin Legislature didn’t have a defensible reason for excluding some public safety workers from the public safety group. 

On Wednesday, Frost put his order on hold, granting a temporary stay on his Dec 2 ruling while he considers written arguments that he should keep the ruling on hold while the Wisconsin Legislature appeals it.

Frost’s December 2 decision essentially confirmed a previous ruling released in July, in which he wrote that Act 10 violated the equal protection clause of the Wisconsin Constitution. Previous legal challenges failed to overturn the law. 

Opponents of the law celebrated what the decision might mean for employees’ power in the workplace, while supporters said Act 10 saved billions of dollars. Former Gov. Scott Walker, who signed Act 10 into law, called the decision “brazen political activism” and “an early Christmas present for the big government special interests.”

The law’s effect on retirement contributions led to an increased cost for public employees and government savings. Since employees were responsible for a larger share of pension contributions, state and local governments saved nearly $5.2 billion over the seven-year period from 2011 to 2017, according to a 2020 report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum. 

The judge didn’t strike down Act 10 provisions that changed the rules for employees’ retirement contributions and health insurance premiums, an attorney representing unions in the case told Wisconsin Watch. Those provisions don’t rely on the distinction between the public safety and general employee groups, he said. 

Frost’s ruling has been appealed, and it’s expected to go to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Wisconsin Public Radio reported. Its fate might depend on an upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court election and whether any justices recuse themselves. 

Frost didn’t find a legal problem with the Legislature treating the public safety group differently than the general employees group — for example, by providing them with benefits that would attract quality employees to jobs important for public safety. If teachers, administration or sanitation workers face labor unrest, their absence from work probably wouldn’t cause death or great harm, he wrote in the July ruling. 

Instead, Frost took issue with the Legislature’s decision to not include certain workers in the public safety group, including the Capitol Police, conservation wardens and correctional officers. 

Specifically referring to correctional officers, Frost wrote, “What greater threat is there to public safety than the escape of the persons that those in the public safety group arrested and brought to justice?” 

Wisconsin prisons have seen a staffing crisis, allegations of harassment 

After Act 10, GBCI staff had to contribute more to their pensions and paid higher health insurance premiums, Verdegan wrote in his book. 

“People were fleeing the prison to go drive truck, be bartenders, work in cheese factories, or even bag groceries at Woodman’s,” Verdegan wrote. 

Corrections officers were asked to put in more overtime around 2011 or 2012, former GBCI officer Jeff Hoffman told the Examiner in July. 

“From that time forward, it never got any better,” said Hoffman, who left GBCI in early 2023 after almost 23 years. “If you were there, you were going to work 16-hour shifts.” 

Staffing vacancies for correctional officers and sergeants have declined substantially from a peak of 35% in August 2023 to the current 12.9% vacancy rate.

In the DOC’s 2022 Climate and Engagement survey, over half of security staff expressed at least some disagreement with the idea that their pay was fair relative to the duties they performed. Over half said that if they left DOC, it would be because of their salary and/or benefits. 

These responses were given before Wisconsin implemented a large pay raise for corrections officers. Under the pay increases, correctional officers’ wages increased from $20.29 an hour to over $30 an hour, with more pay for officers in higher-security and understaffed prisons. Wages had received a $4 boost from federal pandemic relief funds prior to the increase, the Associated Press reported. 

Verdegan wrote in his book that some supervisors would try to harass or intimidate staff. Sean Daley of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 32 made a similar remark to the Examiner in 2022. 

“It’s a tough enough job as it is,” Daley told the Examiner in 2022. “Add in that a lot of the supervisors think they’re ‘top-cops’ and spend their time tirelessly harassing staff with weak investigations and it just adds to the vacancy rates.”

Nearly half of security staff expressed at least some disagreement with the statements “My supervisor cares about my interests” and “Employees are treated fairly in my work unit.” 

About 1 in 10 strongly disagreed with the statement “My supervisor treats me with dignity and respect,” with about a quarter expressing at least some disagreement. About three-quarters at least somewhat agreed that they have positive relationships with their colleagues. 

Close to 40% of security staff expressed at least some disagreement with the statements “Work rule violations are not tolerated” and “I can disclose a suspected violation of a rule, law, or regulation without fear or reprisal” in the 2022 survey.  

Some individual facilities have vacancy rates for correctional officers and sergeants that are higher than the overall number for adult facilities, including  20.5% at Waupun Correctional Institution. Waupun has seen several prisoner deaths and staff charged with crimes. 

Waupun has seen an influx of staff since September, when the vacancy rate was 42%. Sarah Cooper, administrator of the DOC’s division of adult institutions, said at a public meeting in September that other staff were sent to assist Waupun. For example, Waupun also had 40 supplemental staff per pay period, she said. 

Correctional officers and sergeants are far from the only staff in Wisconsin prisons. The Department of Corrections has varying levels of vacancies of other staff. Some of the highest vacancy rates are 22% for social services and 21% for psychological services. 

Prison Policy Initiative argues for addressing staffing issues through decarceration

While Wisconsin’s large pay raises have garnered credit for bringing in new staff, the state hasn’t yet seen whether current efforts will fully staff Wisconsin prisons. A briefing published last week by the Massachusetts-based Prison Policy Initiative challenged the idea that the U.S. can solve prison staffing problems through recruitment. 

The research and advocacy group argued that decarceration would be more effective in addressing understaffing than pay raises, lowering employment requirements, offering staff wellness programs or constructing new facilities. 

The group promoted reducing the prison populations through parole, other forms of release and taking steps to decrease the number of people admitted to prison. 

As of Dec. 6, Wisconsin’s adult prisons held over 23,000 people, more than 5,000 people higher than design capacity. The adult prison population has risen over 2,500 from fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2024. 

Incarcerated people face the worst harms of understaffing, the PPI argued, but they noted health risks that employees face, including injury, exposure to infectious diseases and high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. 

“Unfortunately, there’s only so much that a pay raise can do to ameliorate that,” said Wanda Bertram, communications strategist for the Prison Policy Initiative. 

A 2018 survey of Washington State Department of Corrections employees found that prison employees experience PTSD at a rate equivalent to Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans and higher than police officers. These jobs take a lot out of people, Bertram said. 

In Wisconsin’s adult prisons, 452 assaults on staff took place in fiscal year 2024, according to Department of Corrections data. The incident rate was 19.6 assaults per 1,000 incarcerated people, which is the highest it’s been since at least 2013, the earliest year available. These numbers are for adult institutions and many of the assaults involve prisoners spitting or throwing bodily substances (fewer than half involve battery, physical injury or sexual assault).

How long new staff stay in corrections also matters, and Bertram pointed to challenging turnover rates found in a 2020-2021 survey. The job isn’t for everyone, said Hoffman, the former GBCI correctional officer. 

“Historically speaking, from the time that I started there to the time that I left… if 10 new people would start at one point, usually half would quit,” Hoffman said. “Because they didn’t want to work in that environment.” 

Former officers’ thoughts on Act 10

Former correctional officer Denis O’Neill has had complicated feelings about Act 10. He said he would’ve liked to have more money in his pocket, but he said the act was for the greater good of Wisconsin and saved billions for taxpayers. 

In Verdegan’s book, O’Neill recounts the story of a fight in 2015 with an incarcerated man who was attacking a staff member. Verdegan wrote that there was “no question O’Neill was fighting for his life.” 

O’Neill left GBCI with a medical termination and had physical, cognitive and speech therapy, Verdegan wrote. He had at least four documented concussions while working at GBCI. O’Neill told the Examiner that he had to go back to doctors he was seeing and get new paperwork after the state said they didn’t receive the original documents. 

“It’s their job to make it as hard as possible as they can for you so that you get sick and tired of doing everything and you forget about it,” O’Neill said. “That’s the game I felt that was being played.”

O’Neill said he received his benefits after a state senator stepped in. He thinks the union could have taken care of the issue for him if it had not been disempowered under Act 10.

“I could’ve just continued to work on my recovery,” he said. 

Kimberly Verdegan, a former GBCI correctional officer who is married to Joe Verdegan, thinks prison jobs are less desirable than teaching jobs and that the passage of Act 10 didn’t take this into account. 

“Not to say that a teacher’s job isn’t important,” Kimberly Verdegan said. “But they have their holidays off, they go home at night. They don’t get forced to stay another shift.”

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections declined comment for this story, and AFSCME Council 32 did not respond to requests for comment. 

Update: This story has been updated with the most recent data on staff vacancies and prison assaults.

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Lincoln Hills, a detention facility the state had ordered closed by 2021. (Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections)

When Randy Forsterling went to the Lincoln Hills juvenile prison at 16, he learned skills he still uses today, he told the Examiner. 

“I’m a machine operator,” Forsterling said. “I die cast, I make transmission casings and engine blocks for one of the largest corporations in the world. A lot of the metallurgy that I learned when I was in the foundry in Lincoln Hills, I use it now — 25 years later.” 

While Forsterling doesn’t believe Lincoln Hills still has a foundry, a Wisconsin initiative is aiming to better prepare incarcerated youth with disabilities for the workforce. 

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction released a statement about a collaboration with the Departments of Corrections and Workforce Development that is “the first of its kind in Wisconsin.” 

“By providing these young individuals with the guidance, education and opportunities they need, we empower them to break the cycle and contribute positively to society,” State Superintendent Jill Underly said in the statement. “Supporting these kids is not only a step toward healing, it is an investment in their future and will save future taxpayer expenses.” 

The U.S. Department of Education awarded the DPI a 5-year, $10 million grant. The program aims to help youth with disabilities transition from correctional facilities into their communities, according to a DPI statement released in September. Funds will also be used for work rehabilitation training and for dyslexia screening for all youth during intake at state correctional facilities.

The project provides three different levels of support, with some youth falling into more than one level. 

The program intends to support all justice-involved youth with disabilities and the adults who care about them, according to an abstract on the federal Rehabilitation Services Administration’s website. They will receive support through social media campaigns and an app-based reentry toolkit. This is the broadest level of support, for 8,000 participants, the abstract says. 

The second level will support a “targeted group” of students made up of Wisconsin youth under 18 in state correctional facilities. This level involves dyslexia screening and “related intervention services” and is for 1,500 participants. 

The smallest group will receive the highest level of care, or intensive supports, the abstract says. These are students “most marginalized at the intersection of disability and justice and, often, race.” They will receive care under a model that is “trauma-informed, community-based” and facilitated by mentors. This level is for 250 participants, who will begin receiving care while incarcerated. 

Young people have a higher risk of returning to incarceration in Wisconsin 

The Department of Public Instruction’s statement compared youth to older age groups for a three-year period after release, citing an August 2021 DOC report. The report found that for a 2016 cohort, 20-24 year-olds were reincarcerated about twice as often as people aged 45 or older. 

According to the DOC’s website, of 45 people aged 19 and younger released in 2020, 33 were reincarcerated in Wisconsin within three years after release due to a new sentence or a revocation. This data is based only on readmissions to DOC prisons, so it wouldn’t include reincarceration in another state. 

Forsterling said he committed crimes when he was 20 and went into adult prison at 21; he was released to extended supervision last year. He hopes the program will take the experiences of formerly incarcerated people and staff into account. 

Good job training is important for getting a good job, Forsterling said, which helps people avoid a desperate situation that may lead to a return to crime. 

“And that’s where mentors come in very handy,” he said. 

Forsterling said he received helpful mentoring at Lincoln Hills. He mentors and supports several friends who are still incarcerated. 

Cost to incarcerate per child rises as enrollment falls 

The cost of incarceration at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake has “ballooned” to nearly $463,000 per child per year, as enrollment has “plummeted,” Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service reported last week. Fewer youth means fixed infrastructure and staffing costs are spread across fewer individuals. 

A new Department of Corrections budget request would nearly double that amount, they reported. That would raise the cost to 58 times what taxpayers spend on the average K-12 public school student. 

Wisconsin’s Division of Juvenile Corrections had a population of 81 people as of a monthly report for September, including 40 at Lincoln Hills and 14 at Copper Lake. The campus was designed for more than 500 youth, the news organizations reported. 

The juvenile prisons, which have been troubled for many years and are slated for closure, received renewed scrutiny after youth counselor Corey Proulx died from injuries received in an assault in late June. Lawmakers on the 2023 Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety heard testimony about safety concerns at a hearing in August. 

The DOC is under a court-ordered consent decree mandating changes at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake after a 2018 lawsuit challenged practices such as the use of pepper spray and punitive solitary confinement. 

The DPI received the grant to assist minors with disabilities as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Disability Innovation Fund program. The program seeks to ensure people with disabilities receive “in-demand, good-paying jobs.” Out of over 800 organizations, Wisconsin was one of 27 projects to receive the grant.

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Nasal Narcan, used to reverse an overdose, stock the inside of Milwaukee County's first harm reduction vending machine. (Photo | Isiah Holmes)

The Wisconsin Department of Justice has been awarded a $7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to increase access to substance abuse treatment, the agency announced Friday. 

“Making treatment more accessible is important not only for those struggling with substance-use disorder but for public safety as well,” Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said in a statement acknowledging the grant. “This grant will allow for more to be done to help fight addiction.”

The Wisconsin DOJ was awarded the grant to implement the Wisconsin Deflection Initiative (WDI). The program aims to connect people struggling with substance use disorders to services before they have a crisis, an overdose or a criminal charge, according to the DOJ. 

Key components of the Wisconsin Deflection Initiative include self-referral and officer intervention programs, active outreach to at-risk individuals, better response to overdose incidents, comprehensive support services and coordination between law enforcement and treatment providers, the Wisconsin DOJ said. 

The program will be implemented across multiple Wisconsin jurisdictions and have a focus on urban, tribal and rural communities.

If programs like the Wisconsin Deflection Initiative lead to fewer people with a substance use disorder entering Wisconsin prisons, it would reduce strain on the state prison system’s programming. As of October, substance use disorder programming for incarcerated people had a waitlist of over 11,500. The Wisconsin Department of Corrections’ website says the agency tries to enroll individuals in programming close to their release date. 

“We would like to be able to serve every single person that we come into contact with at the highest level that they need in terms of intervention and more research,” Alisha Kraus, then-director of program services for adult prisons, said in an article published by PBS Wisconsin in June. “More resources would allow us to do that, more efficiently.” 

In the U.S. in 2022, nearly 108,000 people died from drug-involved overdose, including from illicit or prescription drugs. Drug overdose deaths in the United States have declined since then, but the fight against addiction continues. In Wisconsin, drug overdose deaths declined from 1,828 in 2022 to 1,771 in 2023. 

Funds directed toward fighting addiction in Wisconsin have included opioid settlement money from lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies. The Oneida Nation in northeast Wisconsin is considering an emphasis on prevention in the spending of $6.5 million in settlement money it estimates it will receive, to be allocated between 2020 and 2037, the Examiner reported last month. 

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Prison barbwire fencing. Credit: Alex Potemkin, Getty Images.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons is closing a women’s prison and other facilities “after years of abuse and decay,” the Associated Press has reported. The bureau is suspending operations at a minimum-security satellite camp in Wisconsin. 

The camp is adjacent to FCI Oxford, Wisconsin’s federal prison, the AP reported. According to the bureau, such camps “provide inmate labor to the main institution and to off-site work programs.” FCI Oxford is located in southern central Wisconsin, north of Wisconsin Dells. 

The bureau previously announced the closure of a federal prison in Dublin, California, which staff and incarcerated people named “the rape club,” according to AP reporting in 2022. 

The bureau is closing minimum-security prison camps in Florida, Minnesota and West Virginia. It’s also suspending operations at minimum-security satellite camps in Wisconsin, Colorado and Pennsylvania, the AP reported. 

Such facilities have seen frequent escapes and an influx of contraband, according to the AP. Oxford’s satellite camp had an escape in 2022; the man was later arrested in connection with a retail theft offense. 

The camp at FCI Oxford was cleared out in June, the AP reported. For the three satellite camps, employees have been or will be moved to adjacent low-security prisons while the minimum-security incarcerated people are moved elsewhere. 

The AP reported that the bureau pointed to efficiencies and infrastructure concerns for the moves. This included a $26 million estimate for repairs to a camp at FCI Englewood in Littleton, Colorado.  

In June of last year, the bureau announced FCI Oxford would transition from medium security to low security, in support of the First Step Act signed into law by then-President Donald Trump in 2018. 

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Gov. Tony Evers kicks off a budget listening session in Appleton, Wis. on Monday, Dec. 2 | Photo by Andrew Kennard

Members of the public traveled to Einstein Middle School in Appleton Monday to tell Gov. Tony Evers about their priorities for Wisconsin’s 2025-2027 budget. 

During the first of Evers’ five planned listening sessions around the state ahead of his next budget proposal, Wisconsin residents expressed concern about the cost of housing, Wisconsin prisons and other issues in a breakout group attended by the Examiner. 

In opening remarks, Evers expressed support for addressing “long neglected” priorities and cited Wisconsin’s budget surplus of over $4 billion for the 2024 fiscal year. 

Evers said his priorities include expanding BadgerCare, legalizing marijuana, protecting access to reproductive health care, gun and justice reform, protecting the environment and investing in kids and schools. 

Local Republican state Rep. Ron Tusler (R-Harrison) has a different view on the surplus, Fox 11 reported. He wants to use it to  return money to taxpayers and provide relief from inflation.  

Members of the public split into six breakout groups. Each group focused on different topics relevant to the budget. The Examiner attended the “Strong & Safe Communities” group, which addressed issues ranging from affordable housing to Wisconsin’s prison system. 

A De Pere resident brought up the high cost of housing, saying that she and her husband are from Door County but couldn’t afford to live there even though they both work. Even in De Pere, “all the houses in my neighborhood are getting bought up and flipped,” she said. 

Tom Denk, who was formerly incarcerated, said he wants to see change in Wisconsin prisons. He said he wasn’t allowed access to enrichment  programs in prison. 

“The DOC needs more funding because their staff need to be educated. They need to have that trauma-informed care,” Denk said. “Because most people are going to get out of prison. I’m one of them.”

Substance abuse and anger management programs in the Wisconsin prison system have waitlists in the thousands. The Department of Corrections’ website says the agency tries to enroll people in programming as they get close to their release date. 

Karen Winkel, a homeless prevention specialist, said many of her clients have been recently released from the Department of Corrections or the Green Lake County Jail, with “no place to go. There’s no place to live.” 

Lisa Cruz, executive director of Multicultural Coalition, Inc., said her nonprofit is overwhelmed with serving immigrants and refugees. 

“It’s [a] humanitarian crisis,” Cruz said. “And I think we often think about that happening somewhere else, in another country, maybe in another state. It’s right here and it’s right now.”

Members of the group expressed concerns about American Rescue Plan funding running out, including funding for services for crime victims. Wisconsin passed $10 million in funding for victim services earlier this year, but providers are still facing budget cuts. 

“My agency received a 72% reduction, really impacting nearly half of our budget,” said Isabel Williston, executive director of ASTOP Sexual Abuse Center. 

Jared Hoy, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, attended the group discussion, but mostly listened since the focus was on the public’s input. 

An informational packet distributed at the event described positions the governor has taken on criminal justice. These include increasing funding for Wisconsin’s TAD (treatment alternatives and diversion) program and addressing staffing shortages that have worsened conditions in state prisons. 

Evers will introduce his budget proposal early next year, Communications Director Britt Cudaback told the Examiner in late October. In his remarks, Evers praised Wisconsin’s new legislative maps as more reflective of the “will of the people.” In last month’s election, the maps helped Democrats flip 14 previously Republican-held seats in the Legislature, narrowing Republican majorities. 

Evers’ next listening session is Wednesday evening in La Crosse, followed by Milwaukee, Ashland and a virtual session.  

Members of the public can submit comments on budget priorities through the governor’s constituent services page. 

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Oneida Nation General Manager Mark Powless. | Photo by Andrew Kennard

Oneida community members shared wrenching stories about loss and addiction during a community meeting last Thursday evening at the Oneida Nation’s Norbert Hill Center, near Green Bay, Wisconsin.

During the tribe’s community meal and discussion, one man said he was 16 when his brother died of an opioid overdose, and he has five nieces and nephews who don’t have a father. 

The Oneida Nation estimates it will receive about $6.5 million in opioid settlement payments between 2020 and 2037, according to an informational packet provided at the meeting. The money is the result of lawsuits against companies involved in manufacturing and selling opioids in the United States. People who attended the meeting spoke passionately about how the tribe should use the funds. 

Data from 2021 shows that Native Americans and Black people in Wisconsin were hit particularly hard by the opioid epidemic. Native Americans died of opioid overdoses at close to three times the rate of white people, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Historical trauma, high levels of unemployment and poverty contribute to the vulnerability of Native Americans to addiction.. A total of 1,427 people died of opioid overdoses in Wisconsin in 2021.

“We did a little analysis of individuals that had overdosed in our community, and I want to say that more than 90% of the individuals that overdosed left children behind,” Oneida Nation General Manager Mark Powless told the Examiner.

Oneida data in a packet provided at the meeting showed 20 overdose deaths between October 2022 and September 2023. For each quarter of that year, between 380 and 516 active patients  received substance abuse services. 

Nationally, in 2022, non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native people died from drug overdoses at the highest rate of any racial or ethnic group.

Powless wasn’t surprised by the comments people made at the meeting, he said, but their testimony will contribute toward what the tribe is trying to do. He said he never gets used to hearing stories of losing a child, a parent or another family member to an overdose. 

“There was a few times tonight where I had to quickly regain my composure because it’s just so difficult to hear some of the things that people say and share,” he said. 

‘We want to prevent addiction, not simply treat addiction’ 

Powless told the Examiner about a concerning trend among children 5 years old and younger who are affected by drug abuse. He mentioned Head Start and Early Head Start programs, where staff are encountering families affected by substance abuse.

“Those areas are starting to encounter kids who are coming from homes where there’s either rampant substance use or a loss of a parent due to an overdose,” Powless said. “Or you have kids that were born addicted. So those kids are now entering into our programs and services, and that’s like a growing issue… We’re seeing more and more kids, and it’s more and more difficult to find spaces for them to get the services that they need.”

When you have conversations with the community about children who lost one or both parents to an overdose, you hear about those childrene experiencing challenges, including bullying, Powless said. 

There’s an understanding that only focusing on treatment means never overcoming the addiction problem, Powless told the crowd at the meeting. For the opioid settlement funds, the tribe is proposing an emphasis on prevention. Prevention is often underfunded, he said. 

Family-friendly events, programming in the school system and training about trauma and stigma are among ideas that could be funded by the settlement money. “We want to prevent addiction, not simply treat addiction,” Powless said. 

At the meeting, the man whose brother died from an overdose was disappointed to see the tribe not proposing spending more settlement funds on harm reduction. The only harm reduction proposal outlined would spend $5,000 on harm reduction kits in tribal vehicles. 

He expressed support for having Narcan, a medicine that can treat an opioid overdose, available in more areas in the community to prevent deaths. 

The Oneida Nation’s proposals for the settlement funds aren’t its only plans to prevent overdoses. Narcan is distributed through the Tribal Action Plan and behavioral health services, Powless said.    

“Yes, there is a need for vending machines, other ways to get even more [Narcan] out into the community,” Powless said. “But we haven’t talked about all of the work that is happening, and so some of that is missed in this conversation.”

How might the tribe use the funding?

The tribe has more ideas than it can pay for with the settlement funds and is continuing to add tothe list, Powless said at the meeting.  

There is not yet a final plan for how most of the money will be used, but there is agreement on a few items, he said. These include funding for future community meetings and  buying equipment for Oneida Nation High School students to develop anti-opioid multimedia content. 

“The youth voice and youth participation in this conversation has been really low, so we do want to get our youth engaged in this topic,” Powless said. 

One person at the meeting said that to her, providing transitional housing to people with nowhere to go should be a top priority. There are different models of transitional living the tribe might use to help people overcome substance abuse. 

One model is called “Housing First,” and it welcomes people still struggling with substance abuse and can be tricky to manage, Powless said. The idea is to satisfy a person’s basic needs, then help with recovery, he said.  

Powless isn’t sure if the tribe will go in that direction, but he said it will at the very least provide a safe and sober place to live for people coming out of treatment. This would aim to avoid scenarios where someone goes to treatment and then returns to an environment that may lead to relapse. 

“It’s really those early days of recovery [when] people need a lot of support,” Powless said. 

Some proposals are specific to Oneida culture. One idea Powless described involves people in recovery receiving training in the trades and then helping build a longhouse. Another idea involves hiring apprentices to learn the Great Law of Peace. One person does the majority if not all of the speaking for Oneida at Great Law recitals, Powless said, and the tribe doesn’t currently have people learning to replace him.

“The Great Law is one of the foundations for our culture,” Powless said, “one of the foundations for our community… We do need to pass on that information to other generations.”

State settlement money will help fight addiction 

The Oneida Nation may receive more opioid settlement funding from the state of Wisconsin. This would provide additional funding for a tribe that has more ideas about how to address addiction in the community than it can fund with its settlement money. 

Wisconsin is due to receive over $750 million through 2038 due to national litigation against the pharmaceutical industry, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services’ website. 

The state received about $31 million in opioid settlement payments in the state fiscal year 2023. (Wisconsin’s fiscal years run from July 1 to June 30 of each calendar year). Wisconsin’s 11 federally recognized tribes received $6 million for prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery services for tribal members. The Oneida Nation received over half a million dollars. 

Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Legislature’s Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee passed a plan for using the state fiscal year 2025 payments. The state again allocated $6 million to the tribes. 

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Rebecca Aubart (left) of the advocacy group Ladies of SCI spoke about the idea of an ombudsman at a hearing of the Assembly Committee on Corrections on July 9. | Screenshot via Wisconsin Eye

As the Wisconsin Department of Corrections moves toward a contract with a consulting and management firm, advocates are pushing for more expansive reform:the creation of an independent watchdog called an ombudsman. It’s unclear whether an ombudsman bill would pass through the state Legislature. 

These efforts come in the wake of criticism of prison conditions, deaths in the Wisconsin correctional system and criminal charges against the former Waupun Correctional Institution warden and members of his staff. 

Department of Corrections communications director Beth Hardtke said that the DOC is reviewing the idea of creating an ombudsman office, Wisconsin Watch reported in late August. Meanwhile, the department has been pursuing another method of external review. 

In a letter to the chair of the Assembly Committee on Corrections on July 9, Department of Corrections Secretary Jared Hoy mentioned contract negotiations for an outside third-party review. That outside third party is Falcon Correctional and Community Services Inc., a nationwide consulting and management firm, Hoy said. Falcon “exists to elevate mental health services in jails and prisons,” the firm said on its website. 

“We are bringing on Falcon to examine our restrictive housing practices, our policies, procedures, processes, operations, and programs and to identify recommendations,” Hoy said. “This is just one step of many that we at the department are taking to make improvements at our facilities,” he added, “to help keep staff safe and improve the conditions for those in our care.”

Hardtke told the Examiner that the department is anticipating the contract with Falcon will be signed by the end of the month. In mid-July, Hardtke told the Examiner that recommendations from Falcon would also be shared with the public. 

What might an ombudsman do?

20 states have an independent prison oversight body. These include the states bordering Wisconsin: Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa and Illinois.

A report published in August includes an overview of current prison oversight bodies. The report was produced by an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin in collaboration with the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab, a policy resource center. 

The report found that the duties of these agencies may include facility inspections, addressing complaints, compiling comprehensive reports, assessing compliance with regulations and offering recommendations for improvements. Eight states have government ombuds offices, with the job of addressing complaints and overseeing various aspects of prison operations. 

Michele Deitch, the director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab, made a case for independent oversight in an essay published by the Brennan Center in 2021. She wrote that oversight bodies can “be our eyes and ears,” though the power to address problems should be held by correctional leaders, legislators and governors. 

“They can identify troubling practices early, and bring these concerns to administrators’ attention for remediation before the problems turn into scandals, lawsuits, or deaths,” Deitch wrote. “They can share best practices and strategies that have worked in other facilities to encourage a culture of improvement.”

Rebecca Aubart, executive director of the advocacy group Ladies of SCI, sent the Examiner an ombudsman proposal from the group in mid-October. The proposal suggests allocating about $1.5 million for an ombuds budget, and possibly more for the agency’s first 10 years. 

“We’ve had Republicans and Democrats, everybody, tell us that we can all agree we need some kind of oversight,” Aubart told the Examiner. “What that looks like, everybody is afraid of being on the front of that. And that’s part of the reason why we came up with our own bill… at least now they have something they can pick apart, once we have our bill ready.” 

The department has a complaint system for incarcerated people, including an appeals process, Hardtke told Wisconsin Watch. She said that “we also regularly offer guidance to the public, route complaints or concerns to the appropriate place, and resolve issues.” 

At a legislative hearing on July 9, Aubart said people who filed complaints filed with the DOC have been referred to the warden of the facility in question and experienced retaliation and often a dismissal of the complaint, the Examiner reported.

The Examiner reached out to Gov. Tony Evers’ office for comment regarding the ombudsman idea. Communications Director Britt Cudaback said the office is in the process of meeting with stakeholders, including the Ladies of SCI. They’re receiving feedback in preparation for the 2025-2027 biennial state budget introduction. The state begins its preparations for the upcoming biennial budget during each even-numbered year. 

Mark Rice, Wisconsin transformational justice campaign coordinator for the advocacy coalition WISDOM, favors independent oversight. 

“We can’t really trust the Department of Corrections to move this forward by themselves,” Rice said in an interview with the Examiner. “We’ve seen that over and over again, that that’s not a model that’s working — the current one.”

Rice said over email that WISDOM has consistently called for community oversight of Wisconsin prisons and emphasizes that those who are currently incarcerated, formerly incarcerated or have loved ones in prison should be involved in the process. 

Aubart thinks the DOC seeking an outside review from Falcon is a step in the right direction but isn’t enough. 

“Who will watch to see if the DOC is implementing any of these recommendations?” she said in a message to the Examiner. “Without an independent agency watching all the time,” she added, “any recommendations they make will be a colossal waste of money, time and resources.”

What do legislators think?

Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), chair of the 2023 Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, said “the idea of an ombudsman isn’t necessarily bad, having a person to address concerns.” 

“However, I am extremely reluctant to cede any control over corrections to any independent  entity,” Wanggaard said in a statement provided by his office.

Wanggaard’s chief of staff, Scott Kelly, elaborated on the senator’s response. He said there must be accountability for decisions made in the area of corrections. If the Legislature or the Department of Corrections cedes their control, this leads to less accountability and control, he said. 

Kelly said Wanggaard is not committed to an ombudsman, but “the idea of having a person within DOC to help address concerns/direct people within DOC [isn’t necessarily] a bad one.”

Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee) said “we need an independent fact-finder” in an article from Wisconsin Watch. 

In the same article, Darrin Madison (D-Milwaukee) who serves with Clancy on the corrections committee, said an office of ombudsman would be responsible for complaints instead of an internal system. He said “we’d likely see more results in changing practices within facilities if it was independent of administration.” 

Rep. Jerry O’Connor (R-Fond Du Lac), another member of the 2023 Assembly Committee on Corrections, said “we need more information to know if this [ombudsman] approach has found success.” 

“As a member of the Corrections Committee and a citizen, I am deeply concerned with issues ranging from staff safety to inmate treatment and the condition of older facilities,” O’Connor said in a statement provided by his office.

O’Connor said he awaits the DOC’s third-party report and that the committee will continue to hold hearings. He said he spent 20 years teaching Bible studies in state prisons and has a first-hand view. 

“My first observation is that managing a corrections system is extraordinarily difficult,” O’Connor said. “Between the COVID lockdowns and staff shortage crisis, there were too many issues that have been brought to light.”

The Examiner reached out to Falcon Correctional and Community Services Inc., the firm with which the DOC is negotiating a third-party review, and did not receive a statement for this article. The Examiner also reached out to some of the other members of the 2023 Assembly Committee on Corrections and the 2023 Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety and did not receive comment. 

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Wisconsin Books to Prisoners says a Department of Corrections policy barring used books hinders the nonprofit as it tries to fulfill its mission. (Getty Images)

Wisconsin’s prison system and a nonprofit that sends books to prisoners are at an impasse over second-hand books. 

Citing concern about people impersonating Wisconsin Books to Prisoners (WBTP) to send drugs into prisons, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections has told the nonprofit’s organizers they cannot send used books to prisoners. 

The DOC has shared reports describing incidents in which books allegedly from the nonprofit tested positive for drugs. In interviews with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WBTP co-founder Camy Matthay and Prison Banned Books Week founder Moira Marquis questioned whether the limit on book access will be effective in mitigating drug smuggling.

“Our current policy balances the interest in promoting reading and education with the need to prevent drugs from entering our prisons,” the DOC said in an email to reporters this week. “We strike that balance by allowing new books to be shipped to persons in our care, but prohibiting the shipment of used books.” 

The department told reporters how many drug-related contraband incidents involved drugs on paper from 2019 to mid-September of this year. The department also faces the challenge of staff attempting to bring contraband into the prison system.

The DOC’s email highlighted two prison libraries, including a library with more than 11,000 books at Racine Correctional Institution. Each facility has a library, according to the department.

The DOC’s policy on used books applies to anyone, but Matthay told the Examiner it hobbles their project. WBTP has tried to work out an arrangement with the DOC that allows them to send used books. 

“So, our inventory would be pretty much reduced to donations from publishers of books, and that happens now and then,” Matthay said. “And donations from authors of books they’ve published. And that happens occasionally too.”

Matthay has said reading makes prisons safer. And a large proportion of the books underscore that they are trying their best to prepare to be productive in society, she said in an email to the DOC. These books include topics such as how to start a business or nonprofit.

WBTP can purchase new books for incarcerated people that are shipped directly from the vendor with a receipt, the DOC said. The nonprofit has purchased books including collegiate dictionaries, a book teaching formerly incarcerated people about starting a business and a litigation handbook for prisoners. 

“The litigation handbook that we send is extremely expensive,” Matthay said. “I think it’s 70-plus dollars per copy. We can afford to buy really a few of those. They’re really frequently requested.”

According to DOC communications director Beth Hardtke, from 2019 until mid-September of this year, close to a quarter of drug-related contraband incidents involved drugs on paper: 214 out of 881. The department did not give details about the other incidents. 

Not all incident reports that staff flag as drug-related turn out to actually be so, the DOC said, and the department’s numbers may not reflect some drug-related incidents recorded through a medical record or conduct report. 

Of the 214 drug-related contraband incident reports recorded through Sept. 18, according to the DOC, at least 28 times, outside medical personnel had to be called to transport incarcerated people to a hospital or treat them for suspected overdoses or intoxication. This doesn’t include the number of people treated in the DOC’s Health Services Units. 

The DOC said that in September, two staff members had to seek treatment from hospitals after being exposed to substances in department facilities.

In testimony at the Capitol in early July, the advocacy group Ladies of SCI said correctional officers are also a source of drugs. A former facilities repair worker of Waupun Correctional Institution has pleaded guilty to smuggling contraband, the Appleton Post-Crescent reported in September. The items he smuggled included cell phones, tobacco products and controlled substances.

The Examiner reviewed a document that Rebecca Aubart of the Ladies of SCI received from the DOC from a public records request. It shows that 24 correctional officers or sergeants brought contraband into correctional facilities between June 1, 2019 and June 20, 2024. Hardtke said two-thirds of those cases did not involve drugs. 

The DOC email said incidents this year included three shipments allegedly from WBTP where multiple items tested positive for drugs. The email included incident reports for two incidents and said the third report would be released when a redacted version is available. 

On each report, a department official has written a comment that attempting to keep “illicit drugs and intoxicating substances (K2, suboxone, wasp spray) out of the institution is a priority.” 

This is because of the “extreme risk they pose and the extreme difficulty in identification and interception,” according to the reports. 

Both of the incident reports are dated Feb. 8, and the email said the third shipment was tested in March. The DOC said it announced in January that it could no longer accept used books from anyone. The policy is now being enforced when it comes to library donations as well as books sent to incarcerated people, the department said. 

“A significant question is: How are they making these determinations and where is the evidence, e.g., the faux receipts and packaging, etc.?” Matthay said in an email to the Examiner. 

If the DOC doesn’t allow an incarcerated person to receive a publication, state administrative code requires the department to notify the incarcerated person and the sender. Matthay said that WBTP did not receive such notifications. She expressed skepticism about the technologies prisons use to test for tainted material. 

The department said it is “often unable to say” whether mail or donations that tested positive for drugs were sent by legitimate entities or organizations or by impersonators. 

“DOC is continuing the conversation with Wisconsin Books to Prisoners in the hopes we can come to an agreement to help fulfill the reading requests of those in our care and do so safely,” the department statement said.  

According to WBTP, on Aug. 22, the nonprofit asked Cooper if the issue caused by impersonators could be resolved if WBTP provided a USPS tracking number for every package of books the group ships. Matthay said she did not hear back.

This report has been updated with additional details about DOC employees and contraband and the DOC’s prison libraries.

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Books by Atlantide Phototravel | Getty Images Creative

A Wisconsin nonprofit announced the state Department of Corrections (DOC) had barred them from sending books to incarcerated people, sparking an outcry.  

The department’s spokesperson says the group isn’t barred. Beth Hardtke, director of communications for the Wisconsin DOC, told the Examiner that the nonprofit can send books to prisoners—though they have to be new copies, not used books. 

The department has expressed concern about “those who would impersonate” the nonprofit — Wisconsin Books to Prisoners (WBTP) — in order to send drugs into prison. DOC did not specify whether anyone has tried to send drugs into prisons by impersonating WBTP, but a department administrator said bad actors have tried to send in drugs and have also used prison mail to impersonate the IRS and others.

In an email to the DOC, WBTP co-founder Camy Matthay said that reading contributes to the safety of residents and staff of prisons and reduces recidivism. Matthay said a large proportion of the books incarcerated people request from WBTP underscore that they are trying their best to prepare to be productive members of society. This includes books on various trades and on how to start a business or nonprofit, she said. Matthay’s email was part of an email chain between WBTP and the DOC, which the DOC sent to the Examiner. 

“We feel reading is a human right. Access to books is a human right,” Matthay told the Examiner. 

WBTP said that the group was barred by the DOC from sending books to incarcerated people in a statement dated Sept. 16. The group said it has sent close to 70,000 books to prisoners across Wisconsin since its founding in 2006. 

“It’s a bad, very, very unfair situation,” Matthay said. “Especially when a [very] few bad actors — if we can assume this really is going on… cause thousands of prisoners not to be able to get literature.”

Media outlets and social media accounts have publicized the claim that the DOC barred the group from sending any books to incarcerated people. The DOC has received backlash, including a petition with 324 supporters criticizing the alleged decision by the department. WBTP said in a statement that the group is “pursuing all legal options.”

Did the DOC bar the group from sending new books?

The DOC had already told the nonprofit that it couldn’t send used books to prisoners. Security Chief Robert Miller of the DOC’s division of adult institutions (DAI) told the nonprofit in mid-January that the department would not accept used publications at that time, according to a timeline provided by WBTP.

In May, WBTP proposed that the DOC give the group special permission to send clean copies of used books. The group said Idaho is an example of a state that has a list of approved vendors that can send both new and used books. 

In a follow-up email in August, Matthay said well over 200 prisoners were waiting to receive books they requested and hoping the DOC would restore the arrangement allowing WBTP to send used books.  

“To us, it simply doesn’t feel defensible to withdraw opportunities for the men and women in your care to read and occupy their time in ways that are meaningful to them,” Matthay wrote in the email, which was part of an email chain the DOC sent to the Examiner. 

In mid-August, DAI Administrator Sarah Cooper responded to WBTP and referenced a past decision. 

“…We have not made exceptions for any other organizations or entities, and we cannot do so for Wisconsin Books to Prisoners,” Cooper said. “In fact, since the decision was made to no longer allow books in from your organization, we’ve had to implement a whole new process for handling mail from the entities listed in the above paragraph.”

A month later, on Sept. 16, WBTP published its statement condemning the alleged ban on the organization sending any books to incarcerated people in Wisconsin. After speaking to Hardtke, the Examiner spoke with Matthay about the possibility that Cooper had meant the nonprofit couldn’t send used books to prisons — not that the group couldn’t send in any books. 

“The way that message has been interpreted by everybody that’s read it… our project was barred,” Matthay said. 

According to the timeline provided by WBTP, the group asked the DOC if it could resolve the problem by providing a USPS tracking number for every package of books it ships. 

Hardtke also said friends and family can purchase books directly from bookstores, which send the books to prisons, along with a receipt, for incarcerated people.

Is the concern about drugs a good reason to limit books?

In January, Miller said the department, as well as jails and prisons across the country, were “experiencing a large amount of sprayed-on narcotics and foreign substances on paper,” according to the WBTP timeline. This created a significant risk to the health and safety of staff and incarcerated people, he said. 

In August, Cooper said “there have been many instances” of people trying to send drugs into the prisons while pretending the mail is coming from legitimate sources, such as the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice. 

“So our concern is not with your organization, but with those who would impersonate your organization for nefarious means,” Cooper told WBTP on Aug. 16. 

In its appeal to the DOC in May, WBTP referenced an article by the Marshall Project, which quoted a former science-to-action coordinator for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation’s Overdose Response Strategy program. The former coordinator, Jennifer Carroll, said there is little evidence that limiting access to books will help save lives.

Hardtke said “bad actors” in Wisconsin and other states have exploited “otherwise positive programs” that rely on donations to support incarcerated people. She said donated books have recently been among materials that have tested positive for drugs. Neither the Examiner nor Tone Madison have heard back from Hardtke about the frequency of incidents of books testing positive for drugs. 

What’s next for Wisconsin Books to Prisoners? 

Matthay said WBTP’s project has been stalled. If the DOC does allow her organization to send in new or used books, she said she needs to see their policy in writing. She said she wants the DOC to tell wardens, staff, mailroom clerks and property sergeants what the new policy is so WBTP doesn’t have to ship the same box of books more than once. 

Even if WBTP can start sending new books again, Matthay said a ban on used books hobbles the project. The group doesn’t have the money to buy the amount of books that they send. The ban on used books prevents WBTP from sending used books donated by the general public. 

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Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the name of Tone Madison. 

The Wisconsin State Capitol reflected in the glass windows of Park Bank on the Capitol Square in Madison. (Wisconsin Examiner photo)

Candidates for some districts of the Wisconsin State Legislature on the eastern side of the state recently shared their positions on criminal justice issues. Their stances varied, even among candidates of the same political party. 

Two advocacy organizations, JOSHUA and the League of Women Voters, conducted interviews with the candidates. Another group, SOPHIA, held a candidate forum for Assembly candidates for the 13th, 15th and 82nd districts. The events addressed criminal justice and housing, among other issues.

David Liners, executive director of the statewide network that includes both JOSHUA and SOPHIA, said he wants to expand the group of people who are willing to hold their decision makers accountable on this issue.

“[We believe part of our mission] is to make sure that the people who are not directly impacted by the criminal legal system understand and feel what’s being done,” Liners said. “Partly because what’s being done in our prisons is being done with our money, but it’s being done in our name.” 

Both events covered the controversial Green Bay and Waupun prisons. A former Waupun warden and eight members of his staff were charged with crimes related to the treatment of incarcerated people, the Examiner reported in early June. The Examiner reported on life at GBCI in August. State lawmakers have heard testimony alleging problems in Wisconsin prisons at committee hearings. 

No Republicans attended the forum or provided an interview, but the Examiner received responses from four candidates who didn’t attend the events.

SOPHIA forum addresses electronic monitoring, Truth in Sentencing, juvenile justice 

Sarah Harrison, a Democrat running for the 15th Assembly District, expressed support for the practice of electronic monitoring in the community over maintaining the current number of people behind bars in Wisconsin facilities. Kevin Reilly, Democrat candidate for the 82nd Assembly District, also supported electronic monitoring. 

Harrison said she thinks “we need to find ways to get people into programs where they can continue being part of the community.” 

Reilly’s opponent, Rep. Scott Allen (R-Waukesha), currently represents the 97th Assembly District, but he has been redistricted into the 82nd. 

Allen told the Examiner that electronic monitoring is a tool for our courts to use, but he expressed some reservations. He said he’s been told that clever individuals have determined ways to remove the device at will. 

Allen said it seems electronic monitoring should only be used only on people who do not pose a threat to society. 

“This tool is not a panacea to the problem of overcrowding in our prisons,” Allen said. 

Reilly and Harrison expressed support for juvenile justice reform. Harrison said she supports legislation that would keep underage offenders from being tried as adults “except in some sort of extraordinary circumstances.” She instead pointed to diversion programs, counseling and drug treatment programs. 

Allen said charging minors as adults should be “rare.” He said it is “reserved for the most heinous of crimes.” 

“Charging minors as adults ought to be rare, but it should remain an option if we are going to remain mindful of the importance of public safety,” Allen said.

Candidates at the forum also discussed the elimination of parole for certain crimes under a “Truth in Sentencing” law in Wisconsin. 

Harrison wasn’t familiar with the two-decade-old law when asked a question during the forum. After hearing others talk about it, she said she would support repealing it. Reilly criticized the law.

“It’s one of those scare things that certain people are putting out there, along with several other legislations that make it difficult for the people that are really working hard to change their lives, to move forward and get out of prison… it’s one of a number of different laws that have demonized, basically, the criminal justice system,” Reilly said. 

Allen didn’t rule out reforming parole restrictions in Wisconsin. He said “our number one goal should remain public safety” and “any and all reforms should be viewed through that lens.” 

“Constituents have described to me a lack of incentive for good behavior and reform for the residents in our Department of Corrections facilities,” Allen said. “I’ve been told that there is a certain blackmail culture that allows for intimidation to occur amongst the prison population. I’m not certain what reforms would make sense at this point in time, but a comprehensive review of current practices would help.”

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) has been in negotiations with a third party, Falcon Correctional and Community Services, to conduct a review of DOC policies and procedures and offer recommendations.

Candidates respond to scrutiny of troubled prisons 

Candidates gave a variety of answers when asked about the Green Bay and Waupun prisons. 

Democrat Amaad Rivera-Wagner is running for the 90th Assembly District, which covers central Green Bay and is a likely Democratic seat, Wisconsin Watch reported. He spoke about housing people  who’ve committed crimes, creating room and space elsewhere before getting rid of GBCI and carrying out criminal justice reform, such as bail reform and legalization of marijuana. 

“I think that people in Green Bay and the Legislature can walk and chew gum at the same time,” Rivera-Wagner said. “…And we’ve seen how overcrowding at this prison has caused problems…We’ve seen the staffing there to be less than 80% full. And so we need to do something to reform that immediately.”

The current vacancy rate at GBCI for correctional officers and sergeants is 11.6%, according to DOC data. 

In a letter in May published by Fox 11, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said any plan to close GBCI “must be comprehensive and considered holistically based on the needs of Wisconsin’s adult corrections program.” He also said a new facility would not realistically be able to start accommodating incarcerated people in this decade. 

Evers said there must be “a serious conversation about criminal justice reform in Wisconsin” and a meaningful effort to find consensus on “evidence-based, science-driven measures” to reduce the number of people in Wisconsin prisons, focusing on treatment and rehabilitation. 

“Any conversation about closing GBCI must begin there,” Evers said.

Jessica Henderson, Rivera-Wagner’s Republican opponent, told the Examiner she supports closing the Green Bay and Waupun facilities “as long as it does not mean releasing violent offenders into the community.”

Henderson said there is a lack of mental health services that can lead to more people being incarcerated. She said from her experience, access to mental health care reduces incarceration. Decreasing the prison population would eliminate the need to keep Green Bay and Waupun operating, she said. 

Democrat Jamie Wall is running for Senate District 30, which covers the metropolitan Green Bay region and is a toss-up, Wisconsin Watch reported. He said closing the prisons requires determining what should happen with the incarcerated people living there, which means looking at what the prison and criminal justice systems should look like. He promoted increasing alcohol and drug treatment for nonviolent offenders. 

“Now unfortunately in Madison, all of that has been bolloxed up in partisanship,” Wall said. “And I think my opponent would contribute to that.” 

Wall’s opponent, Jim Rafter, categorized the people incarcerated in Waupun and GBCI into three groups: people serving life sentences, people with significant mental health needs and people who have committed serious crimes but have a chance at rehabilitation. He supports closing both prisons. 

“We need a facility that addresses these unique needs from day one, providing specialized programs and services,” Rafter said. “Since 90% of incarcerated individuals will eventually be released, it is critical that we provide the tools necessary to ensure their safe reintegration into our communities.”

Democrat Ryan Spaude is running for Assembly District 89, a toss-up district that includes Ashwaubenon and borders the Fox River to the east, Wisconsin Watch reported.

“We could probably talk about other facilities, but a maximum security prison cannot simply be shut down,” Spaude said. “It must be replaced.” 

One question from SOPHIA said in part that they believe by reducing crimeless revocations and increasing earned release programming and treatment alternatives, Wisconsin could reduce its prison population and close the two facilities without building a new one.

Reilly said Minnesota has the same demographics as Wisconsin but is “doing a phenomenally better job.” He echoed Henderson’s message on mental health.

“…A lot of people in prison are there because of addiction, they’re there because of mental health, they’re there because they might even be cognitively declined,” Reilly said. 

Reilly expressed support for closing the two prisons without building a new one. Allen told the Examiner over email that “a new prison needs to be built.” 

Rep. David Steffen (R-Green Bay) told the Examiner that the two prisons are too expensive, small and dangerous to continue operating. Replacing them with a modern facility would reduce operating and maintenance costs and provide a safer, more productive environment for staff and incarcerated people, he said. 

In a statement in April, Rep. Shae Sortwell (R-Two Rivers) said that due to Wisconsin’s budget surplus, “a plan to close GBCI and build a new prison has never had a better opportunity.”

Criminal justice was not the only topic covered by the SOPHIA forum and the interviews from JOSHUA and League of Women Voters. The candidate interviews can be viewed on LOWV’s YouTube page.

Sortwell’s office said he was unavailable and unable to comment. 

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