Cost to put people in jail rises dramatically in Iowa

A state audit finds Iowa taxpayers spend about 33-thousand dollars a year for the room and board of each inmate in the state prison system. State Auditor Richard Johnson says there’s been about a 70 percent increase in the state prisons’ budget over the past five years. He says this steep a rise is surprising, but he says it’s probably because the state waited too long to build new prisons.Johnson says state policymakers waited to add new prison space to accommodate growing numbers of inmates, and then found themselves building three new prisons in the past decade.Johnson says the legislature and Governor might begin thinking about other ways to punish criminals, for instance using cheaper, regional jails.