Pretrial release program in the balance as Iowa prison program feud escalates
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Polk County has canceled plans to create a new initiative that would help people alleged of crimes stay out of jail before their trials.
Why it matters: The move is part of an escalating feud between the county and the Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC), with state officials warning the county's exit could lead to fuller jails.
Catch up fast: The state government last year consolidated 37 cabinet agencies into 16 under a reorganization initiated by Gov. Kim Reynolds.
- Iowa's Community Based Corrections (CBC) — the entity that oversees the pretrial release program — remains a state program but now reports to the DOC.
Flashback: In previous years, CBC was largely governed by local boards made up of county supervisors and residents.
- Polk supervisors have said they should retain some oversight since they're allocating county tax dollars to the program.
By the numbers: Polk County allocated $240,000 annually to the program in recent years, part of the DOC's overall $600,000 cost to the district.
- The county additionally provided facility and office space for the DOC that officials estimate is valued at about $65,000 annually.
- CBC programs serve hundreds of people each month in the district that includes Polk County.
State of play: The county is terminating its CBC budget allocations on Feb. 1. Supervisors had planned to use the money to create its own pretrial release initiative.
- But the county's plan is now off the table after recent meetings with state officials made it clear that any collaborations would be difficult, Polk County Supervisor Tom Hockensmith tells Axios.
What they're saying: County administrator John Norris likened the situation to the Boston Tea Party, writing in a letter to the DOC that taxation without representation was unjust.
- "Our local CBC is now yours. You run it, control it, own it, and now you need to pay for it," Norris wrote.
Of note: The DOC accepted Polk's offer last week to continue operating in its facilities for free to avoid disruption to things like probation and parole services at the county jail and courthouse, DOC research director Sarah Fineran tells Axios.
The big picture: Polk County's previous contributions to CBC paid for extra pretrial services that have helped reduce its jail population for decades.
- As many as 140 people who receive pretrial services at any given time could instead be held in the jail, the DOC said in a statement earlier this month.