Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says new prison will be needed in Wisconsin

MADISON — Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says he doesn't see any way around building a new prison to deal with overcrowding.

Vos said Wednesday that he's received a report from the Council of State Governments that looked into Wisconsin's prison system. Vos says he hopes to publicly release the report next week.

But Vos says given how overcrowded the state's prisons are, he doesn't see any way to avoid building a new facility. The state's adult prisons were designed to hold 16,560 inmates but as of last week they had more than 23,000.

A legislative task force created under the state budget is studying long-term prison needs.

Vos says the look at adult prisons could include a review of the troubled juvenile Lincoln Hills facility.