IA DOC - Iowa State Penitentiary (ISP)

Featured

IA DOC – Iowa State Penitentiary (ISP) basic information to help guide you through what you can do for your inmate while they are incarcerated. The facility's direct contact number: 319-372-5432

This facility is for adult inmates.

The inmates housed at Iowa State Penitentiary located at 2111 330th Ave in Fort Madison, IA are placed according to their custody level (determined by a number of factors including the past criminal history and the length of their sentence). There are ample educational and vocational training programs for all inmates, especially ones that show a willingness to learn new things that will prepare them for a better life when they are released. The mission is to promote and prepare the offender to leave in better shape than when they arrived, giving them the best chance to never come back and thus lower the state's recidivism rate.

The Iowa State Penitentiary is the only maximum-security prison in the state capable of housing about 843 inmates. It was established in 1839, the year after Iowa became a territory and seven years before it became a state and was patterned after the Auburn, New York Penitentiary – a prison within a prison, a cell for each convict. The Penitentiary underwent an extensive renovation of its cell houses when "unitization" was introduced in 1982. Unitization divided large cell houses into smaller, self-contained living units that are more easily managed. The Penitentiary is the state’s only maximum-security institution, housing repeat, and violent male offenders. The Penitentiary complex includes ISP itself with a court-ordered capacity of 550. In addition, the complex includes the John Bennett Correctional Center, a medium-security dormitory adjacent to the Penitentiary currently housing 169 inmates; two minimum-security farms located within a few miles of Fort Madison with a combined population of 170, and a ten-bed multiple care unit. A Special Needs Unit for inmates with severe mental health/clinical care needs opened in August 2002, with 40 inmates and will increase in stages to a population of 120 inmates.

Inmates at the Penitentiary are offered Adult Basic Education and General Education Development classes, special education for eligible individuals, as well as vocational training in upholstering, commercial cooking, auto mechanics, machining, and printing, as well as providing labor for a large crop farm and a cattle and swine operation. Work opportunities with hourly wages are available in Iowa Prison Industries shops at the Penitentiary. A six-month substance abuse program is offered to inmates with drug or alcohol problems, and Alcoholics Anonymous groups operate at the Penitentiary and the John Bennett Center.

visitation Info

IA DOC – Iowa State Penitentiary (ISP) – Visitation

Iowa State Penitentiary

New visiting schedule effective March 2, 2012

No visit shall begin after 3:30 PM

Friday 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM

Saturday 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM

Sunday 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM

Monday 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM

Holidays if they fall on a non-visiting day will be from 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM