Danny Homan, President of AFSCME Iowa Council 61, speaks at a news conference in Des Moines on February 16, 2017. (Rebecca F. Miller / The Gazette)
AFSCME Council 61, the trade union that represents many prison workers, criticized the understaffed officer in its prisons after the March 23 murders of a correctional officer and a nurse at the Anamosa State Penitentiary.
However, the staff members reported by AFSCME differ from those reported by the Iowa Department of Corrections. The Fact Checker has decided to check Danny Homan, council 61, of the council’s staff statements whether the union’s numbers are correct.
This is an important question because two inmates – Michael Dutcher and Thomas Woodard – are charged with murder on allegations that they could use prison hammers to kill Lorena Schulte and Robert McFarland. There are still questions about how the prisoners could get the hammers and whether more staff could prevent the killings.
Homan sent a letter to Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa House and Senate leaders on March 31 stating: “There are currently 234 vacancies in the Department of Corrections – including 14 vacancies in Anamosa.”
At a news conference on April 6 in Des Moines, Homan said: ‘There are about 250 vacancies in the Department of Corrections. Of these, 120 are correctional officers and 60 are nurses. ”
Analysis
Let’s look at the statement on vacancies in Anamosa. When we asked Troy Price, AFSCME’s political director for the procurement of materials, he sent several documents drawn up by the Legislative Services Agency to the Democratic caucus of the Senate provided to the union. The Fact Checker confirmed with the agency that the reports came from the Fiscal Services Division, which provides ‘analysis and evaluation of government government expenditure, revenue and operations …’ The legislative agency is impartial.
One report, entitled “Anamosa Posts Filled and Vacancies 3-5-21,” states that at that date there were 45 vacancies of those authorized by the Iowa Code.
Of the 233 authorized security posts, 219 were filled and 14 vacant on March 5, according to the report. The vacancy rate was 6 percent. For nurses in Anamosa Prison, there were 28 authorized and only 18 filled, meaning the vacancy rate on March 5 was nearly 36 percent.
A similar report was also compiled by the agency, but this time dated March 31, suspended positions per position at each of the other eight prisons. If you add up all the vacancies at each prison, including Anamosa, on March 31, it comes to 265. The report states that there are 122 vacancies for safety and 64 nursing vacancies, which is mostly in line with Homan’s statement on April 6.
Price said Homan’s statement on March 31 that there were 234 vacancies worldwide was based on earlier data received by the state. The number of employees changes regularly as people are hired and others quit or are fired. But because the March 31 report contains an even greater number of vacancies in prison than the number Homan quoted, he does not exaggerate the number.
When The Gazette asked Cord Overton, spokesman for the Department of Corrections, for vacancy details on April 2, Overton said on March 18, the prisons allowed 2,540 employees, with 54.53 unfunded and 2360 filled. Another “128.63 has been approved for rent, and is being filled,” Overton wrote.
So if you add up 128.63 posts that are vacant but filled, and the 54.53 are unfunded, it comes out to 183.16 open posts on March 18th. .
The reason why these numbers differ is because the legislative agency has taken its data from the Table of Authorized Positions, which is maintained by the Department of Administrative Services, the human resources agency of the state. This table does not take into account what the legislature approves for funding and allows posts to be transferred as vacancies year after year.
The Department of Corrections draws its figures from the state’s budget schedule, which is updated annually based on how much money legislators allocate to the agency. Because this document is being updated and removed positions that are repeatedly unfunded, the department believes it is more accurate, Overton said.
Both are legal ways to measure vacancies. It makes sense for AFSCME to select data from the total authorized table, as it may better reflect what the actual staffing needs are. But the scheme for the state budget is more realistic because it involves how much money is available from the state.
As Iowa lawmakers are now considering allocating extra money to the Department of Corrections – proposals range from $ 6.3 million to $ 20 million more in fiscal 2022 – it could be important to see both sets of vacancies.
Closure
AFSCME’s Homan quotes a few different numbers for the total prison vacancies, but all were on or below the total number of vacancies provided by the non-partisan legislative agency, based on the table of authorized positions. We give his statements about the understaffing of an A.
Criteria
The Fact Checker team checks the statements of a political candidate / official from Iowa or a national candidate / official about Iowa, or in advertisements that appear in our market.
Claims must be able to be confirmed independently.
We give the points from A to F based on accuracy and context.
If you see a claim you think you need, please email us at [email protected].
This fact checker was researched and written by Erin Jordan of The Gazette.