One of our first dates was visiting the state’s maximum security prison in Fort Madison, the oldest operating prison west of the Mississippi River. Actually, we were there because one of Iowa’s best wardens was retiring. The tour of the prison was the icing on the cake. We have visited or toured many of Iowa’s correctional facilities since, and we have been invited to tour or visit a few Iowa jails, also.
Last week, we had the opportunity to spend 2 ½ hours in the Story County Jail. Again, we were not arrested for a violation of an Iowa or federal law, city or county ordinance, or any other criminal sanction. We were guests of Story County Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald and his staff.
Sheriff Fitzgerald has a vita that goes on forever. He and his staff have been innovators of various programs and project. The first thing he told us as we entered his office was that the Story County Sheriff’s Office was going to do something that has never been done before. He rarely speaks in the first person, most often including his staff in mentioning an idea or accomplishment. The plan was to expand the jail by twice the size in order to create a program for the mentally ill. Unfortunately, jail is not where mental health treatment should occur, but what the heck, that’s where they land.
The expansion wouldn’t be dedicated solely to the needs of mentally ill offenders; the pod would also have options for ICE holds (ICE is the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of Homeland Security) and federal marshal holds, along with something that might be acceptable for juveniles. The current jail was completed in 2001 as part of an overall improvement in Story County’s Justice Center. It was designed to add segments of more space in three specific areas of justice and service to citizens as the need arose.
Currently, the county jail has a mental health professional on hand, and contracts with an out-of-state psychiatrist who sees inmate patients via Skype. However, Sheriff Fitzgerald’s dream is to have this service expanded and offer telepsychiatry and telemedicine more often to those in need, as well as increasing the mental health professionals on site.
While we appreciate Sheriff Fitzgerald’s proactive response to the social issues of substance abuse and mental illness, a correctional facility is not an appropriate environment for addressing these problems. As policymakers and stakeholders passively sit around running countless meetings discussing the problem, Fitzgerald is stepping up to actively help people. Corrections and treatment should be polar opposites. There is clearly a fairness violation as society continues to expect correctional facilities to meet the needs of the mentally ill and chemically dependent.
We’re grateful to Sheriff Fitzgerald and his staff for a very in-depth tour of the jail, including the kitchen, where Marty was offered two of the best oatmeal butterscotch cookies he had ever tasted. They’re good, but not good enough to want to taste them on a daily basis.
© Copyright 2011. Fawkes-Lee & Ryan
The jail programs, which are now being cut, actually reduce the rate of recidivism. Without them, more criminals will either be on the street or more prisons will need to be built to house them.
That was quite the date, going to Fort Madison!