Iowa isn’t exactly famous for our high-level criminal activity. We do have a few prisons here, though.
Iowa has eight prisons.
Google Maps In 2015 (the most recent available data) there were 8,936 violent crimes and 72 murders in Iowa.
- The Anamosa State Penitentiary is a maximum security facility located in the town of Anamosa.
Kepper66/Wikimedia
photolibrarian/Flickr There are 880 inmates, here. The serial killer John Wayne Gacy served time here, as did another famous serial killer; Robert Hansen.
- The Iowa Medical and Classification Center is in Coralville.
Scott Wagner/Flickr About 900 inmates live here. It’s a classification center for adults on their way to prison. A 20-bed unit houses high-risk female inmates. This facility also provides psychiatric evaluations for convicted criminals.
- The Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville is a medium security facility with 510 inmates and 190 staff members.
Richc80/Wikimedia It has a facility called “return to confinement” that is specifically for repeat offenders who are also in violation of their parole agreement. It is used for intensive treatment and rehabilitation.
- The Fort Dodge Correctional Facility is a medium security prison on 60 acres.
Marcin Wichary/Flickr It houses 1,183 inmates. 75 of them are in segregation. In 2015, a correctional officer was hospitalized after being brutally attacked by an inmate.
- The Clarinda Correctional Facility is located in southwest Iowa.
fsecart/Flickr This is a unique facility that houses inmates who are (in addition to being criminals) severely mentally ill or who are sex offenders.
- The Newton Correctional Facility has just over 1,000 inmates.
prison_art/Flickr The center specializes in working with inmates to challenge criminal thinking. It also works closely with inmates struggling with substance abuse issues.
- The North Central Correction Facility in Rockwell City opened in 1982.
Flickr/JoshuaDavisPhotography Just under 500 inmates live here.
- The Iowa Department of Corrections maximum security prison for men in Fort Madison has a capacity of 550 people.
Mike Steele/Flickr
Jo Naylor/Flickr When capital punishment was legal in Iowa, executions were performed here. The last person to be executed here was Victor Feguer, who murdered Dubuque doctor Edward Bartels. In 1981, inmates rioted and took eight employees hostage. The leader of the riot was 21-year-old convicted murderer, Kenneth Sheffey. Inmate Gary Eugene Tyson’s body was found in the prison kitchen’s storage room after the riot.
These Iowa prisons aren’t the most deadly in the country, but they are certainly notable.
Google Maps
In 2015 (the most recent available data) there were 8,936 violent crimes and 72 murders in Iowa.
Kepper66/Wikimedia
photolibrarian/Flickr
There are 880 inmates, here. The serial killer John Wayne Gacy served time here, as did another famous serial killer; Robert Hansen.
Scott Wagner/Flickr
About 900 inmates live here. It’s a classification center for adults on their way to prison. A 20-bed unit houses high-risk female inmates. This facility also provides psychiatric evaluations for convicted criminals.
Richc80/Wikimedia
It has a facility called “return to confinement” that is specifically for repeat offenders who are also in violation of their parole agreement. It is used for intensive treatment and rehabilitation.
Marcin Wichary/Flickr
It houses 1,183 inmates. 75 of them are in segregation. In 2015, a correctional officer was hospitalized after being brutally attacked by an inmate.
fsecart/Flickr
This is a unique facility that houses inmates who are (in addition to being criminals) severely mentally ill or who are sex offenders.
prison_art/Flickr
The center specializes in working with inmates to challenge criminal thinking. It also works closely with inmates struggling with substance abuse issues.
Flickr/JoshuaDavisPhotography
Just under 500 inmates live here.
Mike Steele/Flickr
Jo Naylor/Flickr
When capital punishment was legal in Iowa, executions were performed here. The last person to be executed here was Victor Feguer, who murdered Dubuque doctor Edward Bartels. In 1981, inmates rioted and took eight employees hostage. The leader of the riot was 21-year-old convicted murderer, Kenneth Sheffey. Inmate Gary Eugene Tyson’s body was found in the prison kitchen’s storage room after the riot.
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