BUDGET CUTS FORCE PRISONS TO LAY OFF 150

Cuts To Come In Services, Not Guards

About 150 employees of the Iowa Department of Corrections will be laid off
because of state spending cuts.

Iowa Corrections Director W.L. "Kip" Kautzky said Friday the layoffs were
necessary despite the Legislature's action Thursday restoring $3 million to
his agency's budget.

He said he would try to retain prison staff who directly supervise inmates
and to keep parole and probation officers who have regular contact with
offenders.

There will be cuts in drug treatment, medical and dental services, prison
maintenance, food service, chaplains and prison libraries.

"We will thoughtfully try to communicate the impact of the cuts in the
process of sorting through the debris field, making sure that this
corrections system continues to operate in the best interests of public
safety in Iowa," Kautzky told the Iowa Board of Corrections.

The department's annual operating budget now totals about $245 million, a
reduction of about $8 million because of a slump in state tax revenues.

The biggest share of money is spent on housing and overseeing 8,100 inmates
held in nine state prisons. The agency, including community corrections, is
authorized to have 4,233 workers, although there are some job vacancies.

Kautzky said the problems could have been worse because Gov. Tom Vilsack
had originally asked the agency to cut about $17 million.

A later plan would have required about $11 million in cuts, but lawmakers
on Thursday revised the figure to $8 million in an effort to avoid
destabilizing Iowa's system of prisons and community corrections programs.

"We are very grateful that policy-makers understood how fragile the system
is," Kautzky said.

The number of layoffs could change depending on how many state employees
accept an early retirement offer, Kautzky said. The layoffs would be in
addition to about 100 department jobs eliminated last July.

Chris Tripp, executive vice president of Council 61 of the American
Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said he appreciates
the legislature's decision to restore some money for corrections programs.

"But I feel like they have really kind of put a Band-Aid on the problem,"
Tripp said. "I just hope the economy turns around so that we can get this
department back on track."

The Rev. Carlos Jayne, a lobbyist for the Justice Reform Consortium, a
coalition of activist groups, said the cuts represent a major step backward
for Iowa's prisons.

"Sentencing reform and treatment are the keys if we ever want to turn this
thing around for Iowa," Jayne said.

Kautzky said the Legislature's restoration of $3 million would allow his
department to avoid closing the Luster Heights prison camp in northeast
Iowa, a 250-bed prison unit in Clarinda, a 100-bed prison unit at Oakdale
and a Fort Madison prison farm.

In addition, community corrections halfway houses will remain open in Ames
and Iowa City.