MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin corrections officials are closing part of the Waupun prison and transferring inmates to other facilities as they deal with staffing shortages exacerbated by the coronavirus outbreak.
The Department of Corrections said Tuesday it is closing a cell hall at the maximum-security Waupun Correctional Institution and sending its 220 inmates to other prisons. Waupun is one of five maximum security state prisons, with a current population of more than 1,131 despite the facility being designed to handle fewer than 900 prisoners. According to a 2019 report, almost 20% of the inmates are serving life sentences. The downsizing will involve moving medium-security prisoners into other medium-security facilities, with a corresponding shift in minimum-security prisoners moved to minimum-security facilities.
“Our adult population is at the lowest point it has been in two decades, which gives us the available space to make these moves,” DOC Secretary Kevin Carr said in a statement. Corrections officials say the transfers will reduce the prison’s overall population by 20% and help address staff vacancies.
The state prison system has historically struggled with staffing vacancies, but the problem has worsened with COVID-19. The DOC says that since the start of the pandemic, 119 Waupun staff have self-reported testing positive for COVID-19. The facility has no current active COVID-19 cases, but 715 inmates there have been infected in total since the start of the pandemic, according to the DOC’s dashboard on Tuesday. Current DOC policies have paused internal transfers of inmates between facilities where there is an ongoing outbreak.
“Because there are several other DOC institutions in Dodge County and the surrounding area, it has been more difficult to find and recruit new, potential employees in that geographic region,” said DOC Division of Adult Institutions Administrator Makda Fessahaye in a prepared statement. “We’ve taken many steps to try and address vacancy rates at Waupun. We think closing the cell hall will help address staffing while meeting the alignment goals of our agency.”
A spokesperson tells News 3 Now that Waupun is the only DOC facility with any current plans for downsizing.
