Expanding Mitchellville Women’s Institution

The Iowa Corrections Institution for Women in Mitchellville is expanding to accommodate an increase in the number of female inmates.  Patti Wachtendorf is the Warden at Mitchellville.  Wachtendorf says the inmate population has increased by 13 percent.  She says the expansion will allow them to offer more treatment to inmates with mental health issues.

Patti Wachtendorf says the facility will meet inmates mental health issues.

 “You know we don’t want our mentally ill offenders put into a cell and forgotten.  So we have to provide treatment and you need the right atmosphere to do that.  And this allows us to build a mental health facility for mentally ill people instead of putting mentally ill people into prison,” says Wachtendorff.  

Wachtendorf says 40 percent of female inmates have mental health problems.  She says drug use is causing the rise in the number of female inmates.  The expansion broke ground today and should be completed by 2013.    

Iowa Governor Chet Culver says the expansion will create almost 200 permanent jobs and 300 temporary construction jobs.  Culver says the $47 million dollar I-JOBS project is funded through a 20 year bond.