Governor meets with prison officials in Fort Madison

Governor Tom Vilsack met with the staff and management of the statepenitentiary in Fort Madison today. The meeting follows the stabbing of aprison guard and criticism by Corrections Director “Kip” Kautzky that theprison staff failed to follow procedures designed to protect their ownsafety. Vilsack says he believes the discussion was good and both sides arefocused on what’s best for the state. Vilsack downplayed the trouble at the”Fort.” Vilsack says it’s not an easy job keeping a lid on the state’s onlymaximum-security prison.Vilsack says the meeting at Fort Madison had been scheduled before thestabbing incident and was not a result of the controversy raised since thestabbing.