While consultants have recommended reforms to how Wisconsin addresses mental health in prison, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections reports obstacles in the way of many of the reforms, according to a document obtained by the Examiner. In Wisconsin’s adult prisons, nearly half of incarcerated people have a mental health diagnosis. 

“We are seeing that more and more individuals that come into our facilities are sicker than many of their peers in the community,” Jared Hoy, secretary of the Department of Corrections, said at a webinar in March. 

Hoy said he believes this is the result of a lack of affordable healthcare and mental health resources in the community. He said that people coming into the system may not have had consistent mental healthcare, meaning that clinicians are often trying to solve more advanced problems. 

“And we kind of become this safety net, to meet those needs that maybe have not been met in the community,” Hoy said. 

In November, the DOC released a report with recommendations for change to the prison system as part of its partnership with the consulting firm Falcon Correctional and Community Services, Inc. One recommendation involves keeping incarcerated people with a serious mental illness from ending up in restrictive housing — also known as solitary confinement — by instead sending them to alternative units if they commit a violation. 

The DOC reports that it is facing hurdles to implementing this proposal and some of the other recommendations for change to the prison system’s response to mental illness, according to a slideshow document received by the Examiner. 

Mental Health Director Kevin Kallas and Psychology Director Marlena Larson of the DOC presented the slideshow to a committee of the Wisconsin Mental Health Action Partnership, according to a member of MHAP who shared the document with the Examiner. The Department of Corrections did not respond to an inquiry about whether the agency produced the document. 

For some of the recommendations, the department indicated in the slideshow that it would need at least one of the following: additional staffing, material resources, new construction or remodeling, technology upgrades or significant changes to current policies or operations. Among the recommendations DOC said it needs more resources to address is sending people with a serious mental illness to a mental health unit instead of restrictive housing.

Falcon’s 137-page report stated that the majority of its recommendations will require funding, and often budget approval. 

It’s unclear whether the DOC’s understanding of what’s needed to implement the report’s recommendations has changed since agency officials presented the slideshow in March. A department spokesperson said Kallas was not available for an interview and did not respond to further requests for comment. 

It’s also unclear how much progress the DOC has made so far on putting Falcon’s ideas into action. In November, DOC communications director Beth Hardtke told the Examiner that after receiving the recommendations in the report, the DOC immediately began implementing many of the changes.

The Examiner reported last month on the process of implementing reforms laid out in the contract between the DOC and Falcon, which the Examiner obtained in mid-May. 

Susan Franzen of the prison reform advocacy group Ladies of SCI questioned the DOC slideshow’s representation that it does not have the resources to implement a proposal about providing meaningful out-of-cell time and programming to people on clinical observation. Franzen argued the agency can make change with the resources it has. Incarcerated people can be placed on clinical observation for a deteriorating mental illness or a risk of physical harm to self or others. 

“Because that seems to be a go-to all the time — of, if we have to get them out of their cell, we need more staff, we need more ‘this,’” Franzen said. “No, you need to be more creative in your scheduling and think outside the box.”

The Wisconsin DOC and many other corrections departments use  suicide-resistant cells for at-risk patients without regard for the specific causes of the individual patient’s problems, the Falcon report says. The report says that these cells are designed to minimize self-harm, but they don’t guarantee safety or provide what’s needed to reduce the patient’s risk of self-harm and help them become more resilient. 

The report promotes providing these incarcerated people with meaningful time out of their cells, as well as personalized re-assessment, treatment and programming.

Focusing on the most severe needs

Nearly half of people incarcerated in adult prisons are identified as needing mental health services, as of May 2025 — a “much higher” rate than other state correctional departments, according to the Falcon report. 

In the slideshow, DOC indicated its intent to focus more on patients with “acute needs or recurrent problematic behavior.”

An “unsustainable” number of incarcerated people have to be seen by psychological services every six months, and this interferes with the more intensive care needed for patients with higher needs, according to discussions with prison staff about mental health that were cited in the Falcon report. The report advises that the agency remove people who no longer need the infrequent appointments from the caseload.

While the report’s discussion with staff about mental health doesn’t cover whether psychological services staffing problems are a factor, the DOC is facing a vacancy rate of 29% for psychological services staff. 

Tom Denk was released from prison in 2022 and is now co-president of 

ESTHER, an advocacy group in northeast Wisconsin that works on criminal justice issues. He said there are more people with mental and physical illnesses in prison than outside it, and that most people in prison need some sort of care. 

“And out here, there’s a shortage of providers, so we can imagine how much more of a shortage there is when basically almost everyone really needs that kind of thing,” Denk said. 

Suicide watch 

The Falcon report includes recommendations for protocols when an incarcerated person is under observation due to a deteriorating mental illness or a risk of physical harm to self or others. In the slideshow, the DOC indicated the agency could implement a proposal to replace small sleeping mats with suicide-resistant mattresses.

The agency labeled the following recommendations in red, indicating there are obstacles to implementing them:  

• Moving clinical observation rooms out of restrictive housing and into more appropriate environments 
• Providing meaningful out-of-cell time and programming
• Reducing restraint use through increased use of one-on-one observation by staff
• Analyzing why someone ends up in suicide observation and developing targeted interventions 

At one of Wisconsin’s oldest prisons, Green Bay Correctional Institution, almost three quarters of incarcerated people have a mental illness diagnosis, as of a fiscal year 2025 report. 

Former GBCI officer Jeff Hoffman told the Examiner that he was the assigned sergeant in the restrictive housing unit, and saw these issues “up close and personal.”

“Staff working on these units aren’t properly trained to understand and deal with these individuals,” said Hoffman, who left the prison in early 2023 after almost 23 years. “We were trained in the security aspect. Not mental health.” 

Hoffman added that staffing levels are a concern, with staff either being too few in number or too tired from extra hours of work, and that mental health is an issue for staff and healthcare workers as well as incarcerated people. 

DOC policy states that adult prisons must provide at least six hours of mental health training to security staff at the start of their employment, including for suicide prevention, symptoms of mental illness and proper response to incarcerated people with mental health problems. Adult prisons are required to provide training to new employees on preventing staff suicide.

Adult prison staff who have contact with incarcerated people take an annual update training in suicide prevention, and prisons are required to conduct quarterly drills simulating staff members’ response to a suicide attempt by an incarcerated person. 

Green Bay Correctional saw “a large number” of episodes of self-harming and/or disruptive behavior, according to GBCI’s annual report for fiscal year 2025. The report attributes this to the “unique features” of the incarcerated population there, which reportedly includes a high number of young men, many of whom have “poor coping skills with lengthy prison sentences.” 

Suicide attempts, self-harm behaviors and threats of self harm have historically led to a high number of placements of incarcerated people on observation at the prison, the GBCI report said. There was a “drastic upward trend” in these placements in fiscal year 2025, with 900 observation placements to date, the GBCI report said. 

Hoffman said that staff frequently have to move incarcerated people to suicide observation for making false claims that they are going to commit suicide. According to psychologist and jail suicide expert Lisa Boesky, incarcerated people might resort to this as an attempt to be moved out of a chaotic housing unit or away from a cellmate, for example. Meanwhile, the rise in suicide threats within the prison puts additional pressure on the system. 

Solitary confinement 

In the slideshow, a few proposals for reform of restrictive housing — also called solitary confinement — were labeled green, meaning that the department could significantly implement those ideas. 

The Examiner reported last year on how the Department of Corrections employs incarcerated peer specialists to mentor their fellow prisoners. The department said it could review how certified peer specialists are used in restrictive housing units and expand their role. The agency also indicated it could continue efforts to limit the amount of time incarcerated people spend in solitary.

Denk said he didn’t hear about peer support when he was in prison, but that it’s a great help to staff and incarcerated people.

“I wish there was even more of that, because when it comes to clinical staff, there’s only so many of them,” Denk said. 

The following solitary confinement proposals were labeled red, meaning there are obstacles to implementing them:

• Providing each incarcerated person with at least two hours of time outside their cell each day. 
• Tracking how much time incarcerated people spend outside their cells in real time, and tracking their participation in programming. 
• Staff from different disciplines reviewing the “status, programming and needs” of people in solitary each week, instead of every 30 days. Under current policy, if a person has a solitary sentence of 60 days or more and a serious mental illness — such as schizophrenia or clinical depression — reviews must take place at least every other week.

Under another proposal marked red, the department would have a method to understand the root causes behind why an incarcerated person is repeatedly being placed in solitary confinement. Prison staff would develop individualized plans for these people to try to break the cycle. 

For example, if a person keeps ending up in solitary because they have received threats and fear the area of the prison where the general population of incarcerated people live, staff could work with the person to identify specific areas where they would feel safe, the Falcon report suggests.

Over two-thirds of people sent to restrictive housing for over 120 days were on the department’s lists of people identified to be receiving mental health services, the report found; 17% of people sent for over 120 days met the definition of having a “serious mental illness,” such as schizophrenia or clinical depression.

Incarcerated people can be placed in solitary due to safety concerns about them staying in the general population, but most placements are punishment for a violation. 

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By a traditional count, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections accounts for about 28.5% of state employees, according to the 2025-27 state budget.

The total number of full-time-equivalent positions in state government is 74,426.

But that includes 38,239 Universities of Wisconsin positions. 

UW employees, who are funded largely by federal funding, tuition and other revenue, typically are excluded from such counts.

Excluding UW employees, the state FTE total is 36,187.

Corrections’ 10,328 positions account for 28.5% of that.

The next-largest departments are Health Services (6,741 positions) and Transportation (3,258).

Wisconsin Watch reported in May that Wisconsin’s prison population is heading toward a record high, with women’s prisons 78% over capacity and men’s facilities 30% over capacity.

Wisconsin Watch’s prison tracker shows that as of May 1, the adult prison population was 23,577. The record of 23,826 was set in 2019.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Legislative Fiscal Bureau: Comparative Summary of Provisions: 2025 Wisconsin Act 15
• Wisconsin Watch: Wisconsin’s prison population is heading toward a record high. Track the trend here.
• Wisconsin Watch: Wisconsin prison population tracker

Do more than a quarter of Wisconsin state employees work for the Corrections Department? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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On April 3, Gov. Tony Evers signed an executive order creating a process for many people in the Wisconsin prison system to officially apply for commutation. It runs through Jan. 4, 2027, when Evers leaves office.

Commutations have been enshrined in our constitution since 1848, and they have been used in virtually every state as well as by the federal government for almost as long. This provides a rare, time-limited opportunity to prioritize and amplify public safety in Wisconsin. Every political actor in this moment now shares responsibility for whether it succeeds. I want to speak directly to the current and future governor, as well as Wisconsin voters, about the responsibility they all carry.

So here are my three open letters to the people who will shape what comes next.

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Gov. Tony Evers,

First, thank you sincerely for your record-setting and bold actions regarding pardons and, now, commutations. But two details stand out in order for the latter to be as successful as possible for society.

You have activated an unprecedented process that has fostered tremendous energy, time, expense, expectations, and hope among loved ones and advocates. It is crucial that you maintain that same courage to the end despite predictable attacks from critics. We work with families who have supported their incarcerated loved ones for decades as they await reunification and the chance to demonstrate that growth and redemption are real.

Equally important is how we consider and inform crime survivors. Proactively engaging crime survivors would strengthen the process. No single group or individual should have sway or control over a sentence given by a judge, or over an executive decision to amend that sentence, which is exactly why these powers exist. But the way crime survivors are informed — or not informed — of the possibility that the person who harmed them may be released is a serious shortcoming. If we are to truly create a justice system worthy of that name, we need to engage as fully as possible in addressing crime survivors’ needs and concerns.

---

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany,

I understand this is a political campaign and that the Republican Party has run on a tough-on-crime agenda for as long as I can remember. But I also see the values reflected in your journey as someone who built a family business helping people enjoy the beauty of the Northwoods. You understand the importance of helping people understand a topic that many take for granted and don’t think about until it becomes part of their experience.

A purple state is more difficult than a red state when it comes to addressing the failures of the criminal legal system. In a red state, the majority party doesn’t have to worry about losing power, so advocacy on the issue can focus on dollars, principles and efficacy. In a purple state, crime is too often treated as a political weapon, obscuring the reality that Wisconsin over-incarcerates, its processes inherently fail crime survivors’ needs, and state funding severely underinvests in rehabilitation and reentry efforts. All of this places extraordinary burdens on the personnel who work in the system to the point that suicide rates and substance abuse among correctional staff are some of the highest of any occupation. No one profits from the criminal legal system except those who literally profit from it.

This matters because your campaign rhetoric is building a reality that restricts your ability to govern wisely on this topic. We cannot incarcerate our way to public safety, and we know how to do better.

My request is that you consider your responsibility as the race continues. And if you do win — or, preferably, before the election — I ask that you meet with those of us who know the system from the carceral side to better understand how it can be improved.

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Democratic gubernatorial field,

During the 2024 presidential election, the almost instinctual, thoughtless decision to use then-candidate Donald Trump’s felony convictions as the key to undermining his candidacy was breathtakingly hypocritical. As Bianca Tylek from Worth Rises stated, using the term felon as an epithet to attack Trump would hurt Black and Brown men more than it would hurt Trump. This sent the message that Democrats felt having a felony made a person unfit and that they were willing to stigmatize a population that they claimed to advocate for when it was politically convenient.

I say this: Do not shy away from the commutations issue. It is a good policy, and people with felony convictions cut across every demographic in society.

The data, research and millions of lived outcomes point very clearly to what works and what doesn’t regarding criminal legal systems change. Whatever happens over the remainder of this year and under the next governor regarding commutations and broader sentencing policy, Wisconsin leaders and citizens must confront a simple question: If states with lower incarceration rates, use of commutations and smaller prison populations and costs are achieving public safety outcomes equal to or better than ours, what is stopping us from doing the same?

Shannon Ross is a member of the Justice Forward Wisconsin coalition and founder/CEO of The Community — both focused on creating a justice system more worthy of that name.

Guest opinion: open letters on justice and public safety as Wisconsin weighs commutations is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

The Ostara Initiative eventually wants to build a mother-baby house where pregnant women from jails, community corrections or the state prison could maintain custody of their infants.

The post Incarcerated women in Wisconsin are separated from their babies. Doulas want that to change. appeared first on WPR.

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Marshall Jones is a good test case for your opinion about the state’s revived commutation process. 

In April, Gov. Tony Evers announced he was restarting the commutation process – a form of clemency that allows governors to change prison sentences for incarcerated people. 

In a statement, Evers said he was trying to move Wisconsin’s “justice system into the 21st Century by reforming our criminal justice and corrections systems to improve public safety, reduce the likelihood that individuals will reoffend when they enter our communities and save taxpayer dollars in the long run.”

Some supporters of Evers’ decision say people can change after decades in prison and that remaining there no longer serves any beneficial purpose. 

However, critics question whether people convicted of serious violent crimes should ever be released early.

Jones sits at the center of these views.

He was sentenced in 2004 to two consecutive terms of life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree intentional homicide. 

He said he fully acknowledges his crimes, which occurred during an armed tavern robbery in Racine, and continues to have remorse over them. 

“No amount of right I have done would ever erase the wrong I have done to my victims and their families, and I understand that perfectly,” Jones said. “I also know that I am a transformed man, and I am rehabilitated.”

Applying for commutation

Jones said he decided to apply for a commutation the moment his wife, Jessica Jones, told him about Evers’ announcement.

There are two commutation tracks: a general commutation process for people convicted as adults and a separate process for some sentenced as juveniles.

Jones, who was 22 when he was sentenced to life and is now 44, qualifies for the first track. 

Applicants qualify for this track if they are: incarcerated on a Wisconsin conviction, have more than one year left on their sentence, have served at least half their incarceration term or at least 20 years of a life sentence. 

They also cannot be serving sentences for sex offenses, have unresolved criminal charges or warrants, or have committed violent misconduct in prison within the past five years.

Individuals who apply must provide information about the crimes for which they are seeking commutation, prior interactions with law enforcement, prison disciplinary history, rehabilitation efforts, and reentry plans. 

Applications also require certified court records as well as letters of support. 

“Emotionally, a person has to remain calm,” Jones said. “There is a sense of urgency that will be overwhelming at times.”

He said coming up with a clear plan has been vital to overcoming his panic.

 “One box at a time. One task at a time,” he said.

For and against

Nationally, many politicians associated with “tough-on-crime” policies have opposed sentence reductions for people convicted of violent crimes, arguing rehabilitation cannot outweigh the harm caused.

In Wisconsin, it has become a hotbed issue in the race for governor. 

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany’s gubernatorial campaign told NNS that he would rescind the executive orders that allow murderers, including those serving life sentences, to be released back into the community after 20 years. 

“He is making a commitment as governor that he will not release violent criminals early and will ensure victims and their families receive the full measure of justice,” said the Tiffany campaign.

Diego Rodriguez, coalition coordinator for Justice Forward Wisconsin, an advocacy coalition focused on criminal justice reform, said he understands the concerns people have but believes they are based on misunderstandings of the process. 

Commutation is far from automatic, he said. The approval process includes multiple reviews, eligibility restrictions and detailed reentry planning requirements. 

“These are pretty thorough applications,” Rodriguez said. “If somebody still poses a threat to the community, they’re not going to let them out.”

Shannon Ross, a criminal justice advocate who works with Justice Forward to support the commutation application process, said people in prison who have genuinely transformed often have clear ways of showing that to be the case.

“If you’ve been doing the work, if you’ve been spending your time constructively, this is your moment,” Ross said.

Impact of victims

The impact of a commutation on victims and survivors will be part of how applications are evaluated, according to Executive Order #287.  Also evaluated will be the potential impact on public safety, applicants’ prison conduct and their personal growth and development since conviction. 

“What commutations allow is for the governor to come in and to step in and to identify people who have made changes,” Rodriguez said.

If someone is truly remorseful, has accepted responsibility and demonstrated long-term change, prison no longer serves any meaningful rehabilitative purpose, he said.

Rodriguez also said that commutations could improve public safety by helping reduce overcrowding inside Wisconsin prisons.

Wisconsin prisons have long faced overcrowding and staffing shortages.

“Far more people are incarcerated than we even have space for,” Rodriguez said. 

Under these conditions, Rodriguez said, prisons become less safe and less effective at rehabilitation.

“It makes our community less safe when we have overcrowded prisons because they’re not getting the same quality of treatment,” Rodriguez said.

Accountability

During a commutation application webinar organized by Justice Forward Wisconsin, former Wisconsin Parole Commission Chair John Tate II said accountability is central to the process.

“The thing that I would emphasize the most when we’re talking about a discretionary mechanism within the criminal legal system is accountability, accountability, accountability,” Tate said. 

“Any minimization of what their role in that (crime) was is often seen as a lack of accountability,” he added.

Jones said his accountability starts with fully acknowledging the harm he caused and what kind of person he once was.

“I was a horrible person, and I took lives without mercy,” Jones said.

But Jones said decades in prison changed him.

His wife, Jessica, who met him while working at the New Lisbon Correctional Institution in Juneau County, said her views on rehabilitation have changed by getting to know people who are incarcerated. 

“Most of the general public believes that all people in prison are horrible people, incorrigible and worthless,” she said. “I used to be one of those people. I believed everyone in prison could be nothing more than their worst day. Then, I worked in the prison and learned how wrong I was.”  

She said she met many men in prison who shouldn’t be there anymore. She believes her husband is one of them. 

“He does more good than many free people I know,” she said. “He does not let his sentence or crime define him even though it’s a daily reality.”

Open questions

Major questions about the process still remain, including how quickly applications will be processed and how many people could ultimately receive commutations. 

There is also uncertainty surrounding the future of the process itself. NNS reached out to the governor’s office to ask whether the commutation process could change under new leadership but did not receive a response. 

“This is a governor’s last term,” Rodriguez said. “When it comes to executive orders, those can be changed in an instant.”

Gov. Tony Evers’ commutation process draws support, criticism as applicants seek release is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Click here to read highlights from the story

• Wisconsin’s women’s prisons are 78% over capacity compared to its men’s facilities, which are 30% over capacity. 
• The issue isn’t new, but despite decades of overcrowding, the system is approaching a record number of prisoners. 
• Wisconsin Watch created a tracker that shows how the population of each prison has changed over time and how far it is above that facility’s design capacity.

As Wisconsin’s prison population nears a record high, the state’s already-full prisons are getting even more crowded — especially for women. The state’s three women’s prisons collectively house 18 women for every 10 they were designed for, making them the most crowded of all state facilities.

One reason: While growth in the women’s prison population has far outpaced growth in the men’s system, Wisconsin prison officials shrank the facilities that housed them — to make more space for men.

Now, to make room for women, prison officials have set up beds in gyms and offices.

“They just cram us in wherever they can, it’s sad,” wrote Sarah Buckingham, who is currently incarcerated at Robert E. Ellsworth Correctional Center, a minimum-security facility in Racine County that now houses more than twice as many people as it was designed for.

Across the system, the rising number of prisoners and a shortage of staff have strained resources. Prisoners often wait months or years for limited spots in treatment, education and work programs, the very programs designed to prepare them for release. That, advocates say, could mean people wait longer to get out, or even end up returning to prison — making facilities even more crowded.

A new data tool from Wisconsin Watch allows anyone to track the population of the system and of each facility for free. The dashboard, which shows weekly population and capacity counts going back to 2006, updates automatically when prison officials post the latest figures. 

The data makes it clear: Overcrowding is not new. Wisconsin’s prisons have held thousands more people than intended for at least the last 20 years. The population dipped during the COVID-19 pandemic but is now heading toward an all-time high. More than 23,600 people are in state custody, according to the latest figures available from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. That’s about 200 shy of the record 23,826 set in 2019.

The dashboard can’t show how the trends could soon change. In April, Gov. Tony Evers announced the state would soon commute prison sentences for the first time in 25 years, though it’s not yet clear how many people may be eligible or how long the process will take.

Women’s prisons are the most crowded

Female prisoners bear the brunt of the state’s overcrowding predicament. While the state’s male facilities are about 30% over capacity in total, its female facilities are 78% over capacity. That’s according to the department’s latest data, which shows population and capacity as of May 22. 

Taycheedah Correctional Institution, the state’s only maximum-security women’s prison, is designed to house 653. On May 22, it housed 1,039. 

Prison officials have raised alarms about conditions at Taycheedah for at least a decade. 

“The increased population at TCI has detrimental effects on the prison,” they wrote in a 2016 budget request, when the population was 873. Crowded conditions could cause security problems, they wrote, as each correctional officer must supervise more prisoners. They also noted the steep competition for access to programs for treatment or training. 

“There is also decreased programming availability to inmates, and programming has been shown to help reduce recidivism,” the authors wrote.

Since then, the facility has added nearly 170 women. 

“(Taycheedah) has already undergone conversions to turn spaces into living areas that were not originally meant to be used as living areas due to a problem with overcrowding,” said Daniel Cromwell, an administrator for the state’s corrections department, in an April court filing.

Wisconsin Watch heard from six currently incarcerated women who watched the women’s prison population balloon. They described sharing already overcrowded bathrooms with more women and competing for treatment and employment resources. 

Department of Corrections spokesperson Beth Hardtke confirmed that beds have previously been set up in the gym at Taycheedah but said no one is living in the gym now. Taycheedah staff are currently converting a “former property room” into a dormitory to house 20 women, Hardtke said.

The issue isn’t isolated to Taycheedah. The Milwaukee Women’s Center is at 255% capacity. Robert E. Ellsworth Correctional is now at 219% of its capacity.

Fifteen years ago, the state’s women’s prisons had nearly enough space, not just because there were fewer prisoners, but because there was a fourth women’s minimum-security prison. John C. Burke Correctional Center in Waupun, designed for 186 prisoners, housed women from 2000 to 2011, when it was converted into a men’s minimum-security prison. 

The move dropped the capacity of the women’s system — just as the number of female prisoners spiked. In the 15 years since, the women’s prison population has grown nearly 29%, more than four times as fast as the men’s population.  

Now, state officials are making plans to turn Burke back into a women’s prison, part of a $500 million prison reorganization Gov. Tony Evers proposed last year.

Overcrowding limits education, training 

Overcrowding doesn’t just mean getting an extra roommate or waiting longer for a shower. It also means prisons need extra staff — staff they often struggle to find. In 2023, prison officials locked down Waupun — canceling programs and confining prisoners to their cells for the better part of several months — because they didn’t have enough officers to conduct normal operations, Wisconsin Watch reporting revealed.

While the staffing shortage has eased since, the system is still short about 620 full-time correctional officers and sergeants, the latest DOC figures show. 

Those shortages can mean prison programs get cut or canceled, said Shannon Ross, founder and executive director of the Milwaukee-based nonprofit The Community, which helps incarcerated people pursue education and develop as leaders.

“If you have too many people to watch per staff member, now, ‘Oh, we can’t have classes tonight because we need to have more people over here watching more people that are incarcerated,’” Ross said. 

Ross, who earned a bachelor’s degree while serving a 17-year sentence in Wisconsin prisons, said when prisons are packed and money is tight, prison officials scale back vocational training and higher education to focus on the basics: food, housing, security, court-ordered programming and services prisons are legally required to provide.

“Anything beyond that is going to become superfluous,” he said. That’s a problem, he said, because more than 90% of Wisconsin’s prisoners will one day be released. “Who do we want them to be?”

How we got here

Wisconsin isn’t the only state struggling to find room for all its prisoners. Across the country, prison populations spiked in the 1980s and 1990s as states adopted harsher punishments and “truth-in-sentencing” legislation. The latter requires most prisoners to spend their full sentence behind bars, without the possibility of parole. 

Suddenly the flow of people out of prison slowed, while as many as ever flowed in. Lots also flowed back, returning to prison for allegedly violating the terms of their release.

In Wisconsin, the prison population peaked in August 2019 at 23,826, then dropped sharply beginning in March 2020 as courts shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In just over a year, the number of people in prison fell by nearly 20% to 19,381, the lowest figure in the last two decades. 

As the state’s courts reopened, they began working through a backlog of cases — and sending more people to prison. In a 2023 report, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau said that if the prison population continued growing as fast as it was, it would set a record of 24,800 by July 2025. 

The authors predicted that wouldn’t happen, and they were right. 

“While recent growth patterns have been sizable, it is likely that the updated growth rate is too high to continue for the duration of the 2023-25 biennium, and that the recent rapid growth is likely temporary,” the authors wrote, noting that “at some point, the courts will catch up and prison populations will level out and grow at a slower rate.”

Still, the numbers have kept rising, and the growth has gotten faster, not slower. In the last year, that growth has been fueled entirely by a surge in women prisoners: While the male population fell slightly between May 2025 and May 2026, the female population rose by more than 4%.

What’s the solution?

Policymakers and prisoner advocates disagree about the answer to Wisconsin’s crowded prisons. 

In the major revamp he proposed last year, Gov. Evers called for, among other things:

• Closing the nearly 130-year-old Green Bay Correctional Institution.
• Transforming Waupun Correctional Institution into a “vocational village.” 
• Converting the troubled Lincoln Hills School from a juvenile prison to an adult prison.
• Converting Burke into a women’s prison.
• Expanding a program that allows some people incarcerated for nonviolent crimes to qualify for early release by completing treatment for substance use. 

Together the changes would reduce the state’s prison capacity by 700. The plan drew criticism from Republican lawmakers, who pointed to the state’s crowded prisons as a sign that the state needs more space in its prisons, not less.

State Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, said the answer is “right-sizing” the number of prisoners by “adding additional beds, reducing overcrowding and making facilities safer for not only our inmates, but for our staff,” Wisconsin Public Radio reported. 

In October, the State of Wisconsin Building Commission released $15 million to plan for Evers’ proposed changes. 

Ross of The Community calls that proposal a “marginal improvement.”

“It’s not getting us the level of change that everybody would need to see and want to see … You’ve got to get past marginal improvements at some point to really have something different,” Ross said. “Otherwise, it’s just a different version of the exact same problem every year we’re facing.”

One way to do that, he said, is to repeal truth-in-sentencing laws to reduce the number of people behind bars.

“Stop having a system in which people cannot get back out if they’re ready,” Ross said.

That, like other major prison changes, would require legislative action. But lawmakers in the Republican majority have stymied reform for years, Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback said. 

“Gov. Evers has repeatedly worked to comprehensively reform our state’s justice system and corrections statutes to save taxpayers and reduce overcrowding, invest in evidence-based alternatives to incarceration, and improve public safety in our communities while reducing the likelihood that someone may reoffend once they have completed their sentence,” Cudaback said in an email. 

But Evers can’t make those changes unilaterally, Cudaback said, and lawmakers in the Republican majority have “refused nearly every effort to address these challenges over the last nearly eight years.”

In April, with nine months left in office, Evers announced he would use one of the few tools available for single-handedly easing overcrowding: commutations. It’s the first time in 25 years that incarcerated people in Wisconsin can request to have their sentence shortened. 

Advocates across the state are still trying to determine how many of Wisconsin’s nearly 24,000 prisoners may be eligible, and they’re working to help as many eligible people as possible apply. 

The first meeting of the Commutation Advisory Board will take place in June, and the first commutations will be issued some time after that. With Gov. Evers leaving office in January, it will be up to the next governor to decide whether the process continues.

Wisconsin Watch reporter Addie Costello contributed to this report.

Wisconsin’s prison population is heading toward a record high. Track the trend here. is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Last month Gov. Evers announced the formation of a Commutation Advisory Board to consider shortening the remaining sentences of some individuals in our overcrowded prisons. The board hasn’t yet considered any cases, but some politicians have already decided it should automatically reject applications from everyone convicted of certain kinds of crime. The governor’s own proclamation ruled out clemency for those convicted of sex offenses, reinforcing the common but erroneous assumption that every person in that category poses a continuing danger to society. Now Wisconsin Watch has reported that two of the candidates to succeed Gov. Evers have expressed their opposition to commutations for anyone convicted of murder. 

At first sight these may seem like reasonable exclusions. As a society, we want to express our condemnation of both sex offenses and murder. But we should know a lot more about the people serving the longest sentences in our prisons before we deny them any chance to present their cases for commutation.

How many people convicted of murder or a sex offense might be affected by these blanket exclusions? 

The most accessible statistics are those for Old Law prisoners (individuals convicted before the advent of Truth in Sentencing in 2000). According to the Parole Commission website, nearly 1,600 men and women whose crimes were committed in the 1990s or earlier are still in prison, 26 years later. Two-thirds of these individuals were convicted of either murder (540) or a sex crime (527). A large proportion of them are not yet eligible for parole, and the parole process is so uncertain that the rest have no guarantee of release within their lifetimes.  

Why shouldn’t someone who committed a serious violent crime be locked up for life? 

Our religious traditions encourage us to seek the redemption of wrongdoers and their reintegration into the community, if at all possible. And we know as a practical matter that people can and do change as they mature. A person who committed a violent rape or murder at 20 is likely to be a very different person by age 45. (In fact, research shows that the likelihood of violent behavior drops with every decade of age.) If they have used their time behind bars to become a good, responsible citizen, does it make sense to keep punishing them at taxpayers’ expense for the sins of the person they used to be? 

Why is it reasonable to consider clemency for individuals convicted of murder, in particular? 

As volunteers for an organization that advocates for second chances, we have taken a close look at the records of some 200 potential candidates who have already spent 26 years or more in prison for violent crimes. Although the majority were convicted of “first-degree intentional homicide,” either alone or as parties to the crime, very few of their crimes resembled the media image of first-degree murder. At the time of conviction the typical candidate in this group was a teen or very young adult who did not set out to kill anybody but impulsively overreacted out of anger or fear. Sometimes they were trying to protect themselves or someone else. Some were abuse victims who fought back against their abusers. A few seem to have played only a small part in a crime committed by others. But it was the “tough on crime” 1990s when many of these young folks were convicted. They were prosecuted to the full extent of the law and given such extreme sentences that they may never be released unless they receive a commutation. 

Apart from the original crime, what factors should matter most in decisions about clemency?

Historically, Wisconsin governors used commutation both to rectify unjustly harsh sentences and to recognize exemplary evidence of rehabilitation among prisoners. As a result, commutation provided both a reward for the recipients’ hard work and good behavior and a valuable incentive to other prisoners to follow their examples. As we reviewed the records of potential candidates, we saw many impressive examples of personal growth, consistent job performance, degrees and vocational licenses earned, achievements in the arts, participation in volunteer efforts and leadership and mentoring of fellow prisoners. We need more people like these in the state workforce, and their return could also contribute to the well-being of their families and local communities. We hope the governor’s new commutation board will pay at least as much attention to the mature men and women these candidates have become as to the mistakes they made when they were young.

Sherry Reames, Mark Rice, Joyce Ellwanger, and Harlan Richards are members of the WISDOM commutations committee. WISDOM is a statewide network committed to bringing diverse communities together to work for racial and economic justice.

Guest opinion: After decades in prison, who deserves a chance at clemency? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Editor’s note: Wisconsin Watch asked the candidates whether they would allow commutations for murder convictions. After publication, David Crowley’s campaign responded that he would not allow commutations in such cases.

The top Democratic candidates for governor plan to continue allowing commutations and pardons if they are elected in November — though two are splitting with the current governor on whether to offer commutations in murder cases — while the front-runner for the Republican nomination plans to curtail clemency. 

The contrast is sure to feature in the gubernatorial election, as Democrats rally around a national mood that has turned against President Donald Trump, while Republicans try to capitalize on lingering distaste for the Democratic brand.

Their statements, in response to questions from Wisconsin Watch, come after Gov. Tony Evers signed executive orders in early April to reestablish the state’s commutations process, with just nine months remaining in his last term as governor. 

Evers’ executive orders specifically create a commutations advisory board to consider applications from incarcerated individuals seeking to reduce their prison sentence and establish a commutations procedure for people sentenced to life in prison as juveniles. The commutations advisory board is expected to hold its first meeting in June. 

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany’s gubernatorial campaign said in a statement he would rescind Evers’ executive orders on commutations, particularly because they don’t exempt individuals convicted of murder. Under Evers’ executive order only those previously convicted of sexual assault, physical abuse or sexual exploitation of a child, trafficking of a child, incest or soliciting a child for prostitution are ineligible for commutations. 

“(Tiffany) is making a commitment as governor that he will not release violent criminals early and will ensure victims and their families receive the full measure of justice,” Tiffany’s campaign said. Tiffany’s campaign did not respond to an additional question about whether the congressman would consider commuting the sentences of incarcerated individuals who were convicted of nonviolent offenses.

The difference between Tiffany and the top Democrats suggests that criminal justice reform and executive clemency, the powers the governor has to lessen or nullify a sentence, are topics that will get attention from the candidates ahead of the general election in November. Debate on the campaign trail will happen as Wisconsin’s prisons continue to be over capacity. The population of the state’s adult prisons as of April 17 was 23,548 people, which is nearly 32% above what the facilities were designed to hold. 

Evers is not running for reelection, which leaves the commutation process created by his executive orders subject to the views of the state’s next governor. That person could rescind, suspend or revise an executive order from the predecessor, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau. 

Wisconsin’s governors have taken different approaches to using the office’s executive clemency powers. The last governor to commute a prison sentence was former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson. 

Former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle approved 326 pardons as governor but no commutations. Former Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who issued no pardons or commutations in office, previously said he saw “no value” in visiting the state’s prisons. 

Evers reinstated the pardons process after taking office in 2019 and has since issued 2,000 pardons, according to his office. In early 2025, he released a prison restructuring plan with a “domino series” of projects that include closing the Green Bay Correctional Institution, converting the Lincoln Hills juvenile prison into an adult facility and transitioning the Waupun Correctional Institution into a vocational village with job training for inmates. 

Evers’ plan caught pushback from Republicans, who said they were not included in the process and objected to any reductions to the capacity of the prison system. There have been no updates since the state building commission voted in October to release $15 million to fund a design report for projects in the governor’s proposal. 

Diego Rodriguez, the coalition coordinator for Justice Forward Wisconsin, which advocates for a more equitable criminal justice system, emphasized that “broad, blanket statements” about incarcerated individuals don’t reflect a person’s remorse or growth over time.

“Democrats and Republicans have historically used clemency to make sure that we honor when people grow, we honor changes in development and changes in people,” Rodriguez said. “That is something that I think our nation is rooted in, this idea that people can grow and develop, and that redemption is a real thing.” 

What Democratic candidates said 

The seven top Democratic gubernatorial candidates who responded to questions from Wisconsin Watch said each of their approaches to executive clemency would attempt to take into account the growth of inmates and the needs of victims, although specifics differed between each candidate.  

Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes would work with an independent commission to guide decisions on pardons and commutations, campaign spokesperson Cole Wozniak said. Also, unlike Evers, he would exclude those convicted of murder. He was the only Democratic candidate to make that distinction without being asked specifically about that issue. Wisconsin Watch asked the other candidates about that particular issue Friday afternoon and didn’t receive any responses before this story published Monday morning.

“Lt. Gov. Barnes will work to keep Wisconsinites safe — ensuring the justice system rehabilitates those who’ve served their time and pose no threat, while requiring individuals convicted of murder, sexual assault, or other violent crimes stay behind bars and serve their sentences,” Wozniak said.

Asked why Barnes differs from Evers on commutations for murder convictions, Wozniak said “for those already convicted, he believes the existing appeals process offers sufficient relief.”

Joel Brennan, the former Department of Administration secretary, said Evers “did the right thing” in restoring commutations. 

“The ability to pardon and commute sentences is one of the most consequential tools a governor has,” Brennan said in a statement. “I’d take that seriously, listen to the people closest to these cases, review them on the merits, and act where it makes sense.” 

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said he would work with the Legislature to “institutionalize” Evers’ commutations process. After this story published, Crowley’s campaign responded to the follow-up question about murder commutations, saying he “would not allow commutations of murderers.”

“I believe clemency is an important tool to correct past wrongs, especially in cases where sentences were excessive, laws have changed, or individuals have demonstrated real rehabilitation,” Crowley said in a statement. “At the same time, it must be handled with care, consistency, and respect for victims and communities.” 

Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong said she supports Evers’ decision to restore commutations and would work with stakeholders to build a “fair and safe” process. 

“My approach to executive clemency actions would be to build a senior advisory council and pardon board with diverse representation of lived experiences and leadership in the carceral reform sector,” Hong said in a statement. 

Missy Hughes, the former CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., said in a statement she is supportive of Evers’ executive orders to restore commutations. In response to a follow-up question, her campaign spokesperson said she would offer pardons only to “nonviolent offenders who have paid their debt to society and only after a thorough and transparent review process.” He added that she “would take her commutation power seriously and use it only to ensure proper justice is delivered,” but didn’t specifically diverge from Evers on commuting murder sentences.

“I believe it is an important tool to have at the governor’s disposal to ensure we have fairness in our criminal justice system,” Hughes said. “As governor I would keep this executive order in place so that we have a mechanism for those who have paid their debt to society, and pose no threat to the public, can have their freedoms restored through an open and transparent process.”

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez said in a statement that Evers has established a “thoughtful approach” to commutations. She criticized the Republican Legislature for not taking “a serious approach to criminal justice and corrections reform.” 

“As governor, I would continue the restored commutations process and carefully review it with input from stakeholders, including victims’ advocates, law enforcement, corrections professionals, and criminal justice reform organizations,” Rodriguez said. “We need to be guided by preventing crime, reducing recidivism, and keeping our communities safe.”

Madison state Sen. Kelda Roys said in a statement that “public safety and justice” will be the focus of her criminal justice policy. 

“As an attorney, I know that our judicial system is imperfect, and clemency can be an important safeguard so long as the process is fair, thorough, and transparent,” she said.

Correction: Missy Hughes’ campaign spokesperson responded before publication that she would only pardon nonviolent offenders. A previous version said the spokesperson didn’t respond. Wisconsin Watch regrets this error.

Tony Evers revived commutations, but what will Wisconsin’s next governor do? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.