Department of Corrections

Iowa Democrats and AFSCME Council 61 are calling on state lawmakers to increase pay and protections for correctional officers following an attack at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison last week.

The DOC fired Dodson, a registered nurse at a maximum-security penitentiary in Fort Madison, after an investigation found dozens of inmates received shots containing up to six times the recommended dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

Iowa prison officials plan to resume in-person visits with incarcerated individuals beginning next month. But the state Department of Corrections will limit visits to only those inmates who have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

The state Department of Corrections has named two new wardens to lead prisons in Iowa, including one to oversee the troubled Anamosa State Penitentiary. In March, two staffers there were killed, allegedly by two inmates who used prison-issued tools as weapons.

Activists in Des Moines are calling on state leaders to improve conditions in Iowa’s prisons. The organizers say they’ve been in contact with inmates and are sharing their concerns related to the coronavirus crisis and a new wave of restrictions behind bars.

The Iowa Department of Corrections has hired a new chief of security, following the killings of two prison staffers, allegedly at the hands of two inmates. Multiple investigations into the deadly attack are ongoing; further changes to prison operations are expected to follow.

Prison officials have made a number of changes in the wake of the killings of two staffers by two inmates at the Anamosa State Penitentiary in March. While some steps may prove temporary while investigations are conducted, advocates are concerned that the attack could lead to a broader rollback of opportunities behind bars.

Inmates from across all 9\nine of Iowa's prisons have donated more than $11,000 to memorial funds for the families of two staffers killed by two inmates at the Anamosa State Penitentiary in March. The amount is significant for people making well below a dollar an hour for their work.

Advocates and loved ones are speaking out about a new Iowa Department of Corrections policy that bans family, friends and third parties from sending to books to state prisons. Advocates say the step undermines inmates' basic rights and dignity and their efforts at rehabilitation.

Iowa Democratic lawmakers who toured the Anamosa State Penitentiary Friday say conditions at the prison must improve, after the killings of two staffers by two inmates last month, describing the facility as unsafe, overcrowded and understaffed.