The Waupun Correctional Institution, the oldest prison in Wisconsin built in the 1850s, sits in the middle of a residential neighborhood (Photo | Wisconsin Examiner)

The State of Wisconsin Building Commission on Tuesday approved releasing $15 million to prepare preliminary plans and a design report for major changes to Wisconsin’s prison system requested by Gov. Tony Evers. Wisconsin prisons have long been criticized for aging facilities, overcrowding and deaths. 

Republican lawmakers on the commission complained that Evers has not incorporated their ideas in his plan, but the commission ultimately voted unanimously to release the money to pay for the first step in the process of realizing it. 

At a press conference before the Building Commission meeting, Rep. Rob Swearingen (R-Rhinelander) said Republican lawmakers’ goal is “to ensure we have the information needed” for informed decisions about facility upgrades, prison capacity and responsibly closing the Green Bay Correctional Institution. 

Money for the planning will come from the state budget, which included the $15 million released by the commission Tuesday.

Under the project, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections would be able to close the Green Bay Correctional Institution, the department’s request to the commission states. Upgrades would be made to infrastructure at five other facilities, including the troubled Waupun Correctional Institution. 

The aging Waupun and Green Bay prisons have generated a public outcry over living conditions, as well as the deaths of several people incarcerated at Waupun and criminal charges filed last year against Waupun staff. 

Republicans criticize Evers’ approach

“Currently, [the Department of Corrections] is in a world of hurt,” Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) said at the Republicans’ press conference. She cited overcrowding at men’s and women’s facilities, facility infrastructure problems and the death of Lincoln Hills youth counselor Corey Proulx last year. 

Felzskowski referenced the prison proposal Evers put out in February and said he never reached out to the Legislature. 

“The Republicans in this building have plans, proposals that we’ve been working on for a long time, that we could’ve worked with the governor in a bipartisan fashion,” Felzskowski said.

Sen. André Jacque (R-New Franken) said that “what we have before us is, unfortunately, not a serious proposal.”

“…We look at a scenario where the governor says, ‘My way or the highway,’ when we know he’s not going to be in the governor’s mansion come 2027,” Jacque said, saying “it’s unfortunately a plan doomed to failure unless some additional steps are taken.”

Jacque attempted to add projects to the original motion: expansion of Taycheedah Correctional Institution, expansion of medium and minimum security beds at Jackson Correctional Institution and closure of Green Bay Correctional Institution by Dec. 31, 2029. But his motion failed with four members in favor and four opposed.

“Let’s just get something goddamn done here, please,” Evers said during the commission meeting. “…We got to fix the system, and we have an opportunity now.” In a statement, Felzkowski said she is cautiously optimistic following the building commission meeting and looks forward to “having productive conversations to move Wisconsin’s corrections system in the right direction.” 

What’s in the plan?

Under the project, the Waupun prison would become a medium security prison, and it would have upgraded housing units and  enhanced vocational programming. Gov. Tony Evers said he wants to revamp the prison into a “state-of-the-art ‘vocational village.’” 

The troubled Lincoln Hills School, which has remained open as a juvenile facility long after a deadline for closure has passed, would be converted to a 500-bed men’s medium security facility. 

Medium-security Stanley Correctional Institution, which is northeast of Eau Claire, would switch to maximum security, while John C. Burke Correctional Center in Waupun would become a women’s facility. Sanger B. Powers Correctional Center in northeast Wisconsin would receive housing expansion and kitchen replacement that would increase its capacity. 

The request to the commission included an anticipated budget and schedule, which put the total cost at $325 million and final completion in January 2031.  By releasing the planning money that had been included in the state budget, the eight-member commission, chaired by the governor and comprised of legislators from both parties, took the first step in the process. But Republicans and Evers continue to disagree on next steps. Evers promised Tuesday to include legislators in discussions throughout the process.