State records indicate nearly 60% of the more than 1,000 men who are inmates at a state prison near Green Bay were convicted in southeast Wisconsin. And of that, 44% of the 1,014 men — that’s 445 — were convicted in Milwaukee County.
Concern about conditions at that facility, the Green Bay Correctional Institution (GBCI) prompted an unusual meeting at the state Capitol in Madison on Tuesday. Leaders of the Village of Allouez, where GBCI is located, and Brown County held a roundtable discussion, hoping to get Republican state lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, to promise to tear down the 126-year-old prison and replace it with a modern facility. Some of the inmates could be transferred to other prisons.
Racine resident Dant’e Cottingham spent 11 years as a Green Bay inmate, part of his 27 years behind bars. He’s now a prison reform advocate. He told the roundtable that inmate overcrowding, guard understaffing and the decaying conditions at Green Bay add up.
“I intimately understand the crushing feeling of confinement that the brothers are enduring in there right now, this very second. How it attacks and chips away at their mind, at their heart, at their hopes," Cottingham said.
Brown County Sheriff Todd Delain also said the GBCI should be replaced. He said a more modern design could allow fewer guards to be on hand.
Delain said the current guard shortage is a key reason the inmates are on what’s called "modified lockdown," only being allowed five hours outside of their cell each month. "[This] adds additional tension to the inmates. What we’re finding, unfortunately, is that we’ve seen an increased number of assault and battery cases. Those are inmate on inmate situations, as well as inmate on staff," Delain told the roundtable.
Allouez Village President Jim Rafter ended the session with an appeal to state officials: “Now it’s up to our legislators, it’s up to the governor to do the right thing. And for all of the reasons we’ve heard, to close it."
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections issued a lengthy statement that contends for the most part the Green Bay prison is under normal operations. The department said it anticipates increasing inmate recreation time next month, that the guard shortage is easing, and that new electronic tablets are allowing inmates to more easily communicate with friends and family.
And, a spokesperson for Evers told WUWM, "There’s been no change in the governor’s position—he’s been clear from the beginning that any plan to close an adult correctional institution must be comprehensive and considered holistically based on the needs of Wisconsin’s adult corrections program."
Read the full statement from the Department of Corrections:
For the most part, Green Bay Correctional Institution (GBCI) is under normal operations.
Persons in our care are leaving their cells according to a normal schedule for things such as medical and mental health appointments, work assignments, religious services, education, law library visits and more.
In-person visitation at GBCI resumed in November and in-person educational opportunities restarted earlier this year as well.
One administrative rule remains suspended at GBCI and that relates to the number of hours of recreation offered. Currently, persons in our care at GBCI receive one period of recreation each week plus one additional period each month for a total of five monthly. We are anticipating increasing recreation time starting next month.
There have also been a couple of positive improvements at GBCI in the past few weeks.
GBCI was one of the first institutions to receive new electronic tablets for all persons in our care. The new tablets – which are provided free to each person in our care – offer a secure way for phone calls and messages to be sent to friends and family. The program was designed to help persons in our care maintain and strengthen communication with their families and friends.
With the tablets, it is no longer necessary for persons in our care to wait for a turn at a shared phone in their housing unit.
The Department of Corrections (DOC) has seen tremendous growth in the number of minutes persons in our care spend communicating with friends and family. At GBCI, for example, the number of minutes spent on phone calls grew by more than 199% when comparing a two week period in February before the tablets were distributed to a two week period in March after the tablets were received.
The staffing situation at GBCI and throughout DOC also continues to improve. Earlier this month, the department graduated its largest ever class of correctional officers and sergeants from the training academy.
There are now 23 new graduates completing four weeks of on-the-job training at GBCI. An additional 16 officers are currently taking part in academy training before joining GBCI.
Overall the vacancy rate for correctional officers and sergeants across DOC is about 18% as compared to 35% last August. Much of the improvement can be traced to the new compensation plan Governor Evers proposed in his biennial budget and approved by the state Legislature. The plan set starting pay for correctional officers at $33 an hour and as high as $41 an hour with add-ons.
After the compensation plan was approved, DOC experienced an influx of applications and recent months have seen the department’s largest ever training academy classes.
Roundtable audio provided by Wisconsin Eye.
