Wisconsin prison reform plan; advocate, inmate weigh in

WAUPUN, Wis. - Gov. Tony Evers' budget includes opposite plans for the state's oldest prisons.

What we know:

Evers wants to shut down Green Bay Correctional Institution while transforming Waupun Correctional Institution. The plan seems to have bipartisan support.

From the walls outside Wisconsin's oldest prison, to the halls of the State Capitol, Hoffman-Kolb never saw herself as an advocate until she had to be.

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Her father, Dean, was the first of five inmates to die inside Waupun Correctional Institution since June 2023. She said she sees the governor's plan to correct the department of corrections as a sign her speaking up is working.

As part of his budget proposal, Evers wants to spend $243 million to overhaul the prison by 2031. He would temporarily close it to demolish cell halls, build modern housing for 600 people at "medium security" and add a vocational village – a space that would better prepare inmates to transition out of prison.

Hoffman-Kolb also thinks it'd be easier to recruit and retain employees in the Green Bay area than in Waupun.

What they're saying:

"They're admitting that they know there are issues, and that changes need to be made," Hoffman-Kolb said. "If we want them to come out as, you know, productive members of society, we need to give them the tools to be productive members of society."

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But her biggest concern is speed.

"I think we need to be agile and much faster," she said. "Waupun is still on lockdown."

That's something current inmates agree with.

Kevin Burkes, who's serving time for human trafficking and second-degree sexual assault, said the state of the prison is only making things worse.

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"We’re basically in our rooms all day, people screaming out their doors all day, because they don't get to talk to other people," he said. "We just, we just stuck in a room [...] as though we've lost our minds."

Dig deeper:

The latest Wisconsin Department of Corrections data shows 19% of the correctional officer and sergeant positions remain open as of this month. That's down from nearly 46% last June.