Legislator warns of danger in cutting prison budget

A legislator who works at the state’s maximum-security prison warns republicans won’t spend enough on Iowa’s correctional system. Representative Rick Larkin, a democrat from Fort Madison, says the budget cuts republicans propose will mean when a guard quits, he or she won’t be replaced. He says when positions aren’t filled, the staff to inmates ratio increases, making the prison less safe.Larkin says the state prisons were overcrowded and under-staffed in 1981, and it led to a riot at Fort Madison that killed one person and caused a million dollars worth of damage.Larkin is a counselor at the Fort Madison prison. He says one counseling position would be eliminated at each prison, giving prisoners less help.Republicans want to spend six million dollars less on the state’s prisons next year than was spent this year.