Sex-offender program to be added at Newton prison

A sex-offender program addition to the Newton Correctional Facility won’t impact either public safety or the number of inmates or staff at any Iowa facility, officials say.

About 200 inmates are scheduled to be slowly moved from a Mount Pleasant medium-security correctional facility the Newton’s medium-security equivalent over the next eight to 10 months. Newton has been selected as the new home for a specialized sex-offender treatment program, as Newton’s building design and cell configurations make it a more suitable facility for the program.

Warden Terry Mapes said Thursday he sees the move as a positive step for his facility.

“This is an opportunity to show how we can serve the (Iowa) Department (of Corrections),” Mapes said. “It’s not going to happen overnight, but it will benefit everyone involved.”

Mapes and Department of Corrections Assistant Director Fred Scaletta both told the Newton Daily News there is no change to the impact on public safety, as Newton and other medium-security facilities have housed sex offenders for many years. Offender locations are based on many factors, Scaletta said.

The only change, according to Mapes, will be having more sex offenders among his 1,300 inmates than his facility has now, and the personnel who deal with that population. Mapes said he has some vacant positions among his specially trained counseling staff, and positions could be added to his staff as the treatment program is moved.

Scaletta said the move should have virtually no impact on the number of employees at both the Newton and Mount Pleasant facilities. There are no plans to move, for example, large numbers of corrections officers or any other staff.

“If we end up eliminating any staff positions at Mount Pleasant, those employees would certainly be accommodated if they wanted to go to any of our other facilities,” Scaletta said.

Scaletta said the Mount Pleasant facility, which is far less secure than Newton’s medium-security site, will be converted into an all-minimum-security facility. Its residents won’t necessarily come from Newton, he said, but adjustments will be made to keep all facility numbers close to current levels.

Mapes said his medium-security facility has one-, two- and three-person cells. It’s a multi-level facility, he said, but there is much less need to go up or down stairs than there is at Mount Pleasant, which was built as a psychiatric hospital.

“Our cell environment is better suited for offenders who have limited mobility,” Mapes said. “Plus, it will allow us to segregate our populations, and comply with all regulations in the best ways possible.”

Mapes said all moves that create more secure, better-monitored environments make it easier for facilities to meet federal standards. The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 calls for a long list of isolation, inmate-program, video monitoring and staffing guidelines.

The warden said it’s possible offenders who are progressing well and are approaching their re-entry into society could end up transferring to a minimum-security facility at Newton or another prison, but that has always been the case.

Mapes said Newton will have to begin to duplicate some parts of the Mount Pleasant program before the current one can be eliminated.

“There will still be dual treatment programs running at both facilities for a while,” he said. “Offenders will be brought here in small groups — not all at once. But, eventually, we will be able to do things like get guys through classes faster, and better serve that element of our prison population.”

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com