State Lawmakers Hear Testimony Regarding Wisconsin's Prison System

Thursday, July 11th, 2024 -- 11:00 AM

(Sarah Lehr, Wisconsin Public Radio) State lawmakers heard often-harrowing testimony this week from formerly incarcerated people, corrections workers and other people affected by Wisconsin’s prison system.

According to Sarah Lehr with Wisconsin Public Radio, Tuesday’s hearing before the Assembly’s Committee on Corrections comes as Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections deals with the fallout from multiple scandals.

A federal Department of Justice investigation is ongoing into allegations that staffers at Wisconsin’s Waupun prison smuggled drugs and cell phones into the maximum-security prison.

Following a separate investigation, Dodge County prosecutors filed charges last month against nine staffers at Wisconsin’s Waupun prison, alleging their neglect caused the deaths of two inmates.

And, just weeks ago, two incarcerated teens were charged with killing a counselor at the Lincoln Hills youth prison. In testimony this week, Corrections Sgt. Paul Neyhard described surviving a different attack from an inmate while working at Oshkosh Correctional last year.

Neyhard said he suffered a concussion and now has PTSD. “I’m really sensitive to the light, this light here is just killing me,” Neyhard told lawmakers. “I cry all the time. I’m mean to my wife.”

Last fiscal year, there were 345 assaults reported against staff within Wisconsin’s adult prisons, the highest number in at least a decade. So far in the 2024 fiscal year, there have been reports of 243 assaults on staff.

Neyhard told lawmakers short staffing may have contributed to his attack. And he warned the committee Wisconsin needs to offer more treatment options, including mental health services, to incarcerated people.

That was a plea echoed by many people who testified Tuesday, including formerly incarcerated people and Wisconsinites who have loved ones in prison. Community activist Segdrick Farley was among those who warned the committee about a dire lack of physical and mental health care within the system.

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