State Senate vote may save Luster Heights

On a 38-12 vote, the Iowa State Senate has approved an amendment to the state reorganization bill that will keep open Luster Heights Work Camp in Allamakee County.

The state government reorganization bill called for closing of the facility. But State Senator Mary Jo Wilhelm of Cresco, who represents Allamakee County in the state legislature, told her fellow state senators the prison work camp is a model of outstanding performance and efficiency.

Luster Heights is located in the Yellow River State Forest near the Mississippi River in Allamakee County. It houses around 55 minimum security inmates, who work for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and maintain the camp and the nearby forest. One of their tasks is to operate a DNR-owned sawmill where 150,000 board feet of lumber are processed annually.

Wilhelm told fellow state senators: "The offenders at Luster Heights are low risk and living at Luster Heights prepares them for life back in their communities. The offenders have jobs which helps the state cover the costs of their incarceration...If these low risk offenders are put into facilities with the hardcore offenders, then it is likely that they will not be properly prepared to go back into the communities, and then it is likely they will reoffend and come back into the prison system, thus increasing our prison population."

Wilhelm also argued that closing Luster Heights would add to Iowa's already worsening problems with prison overcrowding: "If Luster Heights is permanently closed, where will you put the increase in the prison population? Argued Wilhelm, "By including Luster Heights in this bill, you take away the flexibility of the Department of Corrections to use this facility in the future, even though it has worked so well at helping low risk offenders reenter society".

The overall state government reorganization bill was approved by the State Senate late Monday night. That means the bill will now be sent to the State Assembly. State Assemblyman John Beard of Decorah, whose district includes Luster Heights, says he will work to get the Iowa House to also restore funding. But Beard admits, "If we come up with the money, and it passes the House and Senate, it will still need the governor's signature. This will be the toughest fight I have faced in this job."

Entrance to Luster Heights