BY PCC STAFF FORT MADISON – Three staff members were assaulted while on duty at the Iowa State Penitentiary earlier today. Based on a preliminary review of the incident, it appears that at 10:22 a.m, [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERGPCC EDITOR FORT MADISON – After just three weeks in his new office, tucked away in the southwest corner of Fort Madison’s maximum security prison, warden Randy Gibbs is just starting to get [Read More…]
Submitted article FORT MADISON – Iowa State Penitentiary hosts various fundraisers to raise money for its scholarship fund. $10,000 was awarded this year to students attending college in the fall. Children of ISP employees are [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERGPCC EDITOR FORT MADISON – Authorities haven’t nailed down what substance was allegedly applied to a staffer’s bottle of eye drops at the Iowa State Penitentiary Friday, April 5. The staff member became [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERGPCC EDITOR FORT MADISON – State Department of Corrections officials are still waiting on results of tests being done on a substance that was sent as part of ongoing investigation into what sickened [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERGPCC EDITOR FORT MADISON – State officials are now shopping the former Iowa State Penitentiary property to developers across the country. Last summer, meetings were conducted by Mead & Hunt, Inc., out of [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERG PCC EDITOR FORT MADISON – The John Bennett Center at the old Iowa State Penitentiary converted from outdated prison space to testing grounds on Monday and Tuesday. Handlers and K9 officers from [Read More…]
PCC STAFFFORT MADISON – A correctional officer was assaulted by an inmate at the Iowa State Penitentiary at approximately 11:52 a.m. Friday. Staff were alerted to a fire alarm triggered in a living unit at the prison. As they [Read More…]
Submitted article FORT MADISON –The Vets Behind Bars incarcerated individual organization at Iowa State Penitentiary has been around since 2005. The group strives to serve as support system for incarcerated veterans and to give back [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERG PCC EDITOR FORT MADISON – An assault on a correctional officer at Iowa State Penitentiary last week has prompted local union officials to meet with prison officials again about ongoing staffing concerns. [Read More…]
FORT MADISON – A correctional officer was assaulted by an inmate at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison, IA at approximately 8:00 a.m. Friday morning. The correctional officer was conducting his routine duties in a living unit when he [Read More…]
(FT. MADISON) – Robert James Carter was pronounced dead at 5:10 p.m. on Sunday, September 30, 2018 at the Ft. Madison Community Hospital where he had been taken due to suffering a medical emergency. Carter was 73 years old at [Read More…]
BY PCC STAFF FORT MADISON – Iowa State Penitentiary announced Wednesday morning that another tour date for the Historic Iowa State Penitentiary facility has been set for the fall. Public tours will once again be [Read More…]
Submitted article FORT MADISON – Recently the K9 unit at Iowa State Penitentiary (ISP) participated in in the United State Police Canine Association (USPCA) Police Dog # 1 Certification Trials held in Des Moines. ISP [Read More…]
BY PCC STAFF FORT MADISON – According to a release from the Iowa Department of Corrections, a correctional officer at Iowa State Penitentiary was assaulted and suffered minor injuries this morning. The correctional officer, along [Read More…]
BY PCC STAFF FORT MADISON – A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, March 23rd for retired Warden Nick Ludwick in Fort Madison. Ludwick retired in January of 2017 after seven years of [Read More…]
BY PCC STAFF FORT MADISON – Tickets are once again on sale for the public to tour the Historic Iowa State Penitentiary. The next set of tours will take place on April 14th and 15th [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERG PCC EDITOR MONTROSE – The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is looking at taking advantage of a lower cost service provider for meals to inmates being housed at the jail. During Tuesday’s county [Read More…]
Submitted article FORT MADISON – As volunteers from all over Fort Madison start getting ready for the Community Thanksgiving Dinner so are the offenders at Iowa State Penitentiary. For over five years, the offenders have [Read More…]
BY PCC STAFF FORT MADISON – An Iowa State Penitentiary correctional officer injured in an attack early Wednesday morning has been released from the hospital and is recovering at home, according to a release from [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERG PCC EDITOR FORT MADISON – The president of the union representing staff at the Iowa State Penitentiary is calling on ISP and Iowa Department of Corrections officials to address safety issues after [Read More…]
BY PCC STAFF FORT MADISON – Iowa State Penitentiary was placed on lockdown/restricted movement Wednesday, October 18, 2017 after an incident involving a staff assault. The staff member was beginning an escort when the offender [Read More…]
BY PCC STAFF FORT MADISON – Iowa State Penitentiary’s Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT) took home third place recently at the CERT Challenge held in Fort Dodge. CERT officers Brendon Freeman, Aaron Landers and Shane [Read More…]
BY PCC STAFF FORT MADISON – Eisentraut Theatres and Humanities Iowa are pleased to announce the Premiere of the Documentary, “The Fort: 177 Years of Crime and Punishment at the Iowa State Prison,” on Saturday, [Read More…]
BY PCC STAFF FORT MADISON – Fort Madison, IA. Iowa State Penitentiary’s K9 team took home awards recently at the United States Police Canine Association PD-1 trials. K9 teams from both Iowa and Minnesota participated [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERG PCC EDITOR FORT MADISON – Iowa State Penitentiary will be hosting additional tour dates of the Historic Iowa State Penitentiary site in October. The previous tour held in May, drew over 3500 [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERG PCC EDITOR FORT MADISON – A Saturday melee that resulted in a lockdown at ISP is coming under fire from a union head who says it points to a larger problem of [Read More…]
PCC STAFF FORT MADISON – A local partnership is helping address dementia in offenders at the Iowa State Penitentiary. Dementia gets diagnosed every 68 seconds in America. An estimated 5.4 million Americans have one of [Read More…]
BY PCC STAFF Iowa State Penitentiary has participated in the Law Enforcement Torch run for more than 15 years. ISP Sgt. Chris McCormick has been an integral part of not only the Torch Run but [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERG PCC EDITOR FORT MADISON – A group of eight members of the Iowa State Penitentiary’s apprenticeship program earned their journeyman certificates in a graduation ceremony Wednesday morning. The program teaches offenders a [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERG PCC EDITOR FORT MADISON – Details of a lease agreement between the Lee County Health Department and Iowa Dept. of Corrections were released this morning as the the department’s Board of Directors [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERG PCC EDITOR FORT MADISON – Throngs of people from all over the region trekked to Fort Madison Sunday to tour the now-shuttered, but oldest standing prison west of the Mississippi. The Iowa [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERG PCC EDITOR FORT MADISON – What started as a way to give area residents a look inside a shuttered old prison, has become an event that is drawing regional attention and has [Read More…]
BY PCC STAFF FORT MADISON – Warden Patti Wachtendorf is pleased to announce that there will be a public tour of the Historic Iowa State Penitentiary that has been closed since August, 1st 2015. This [Read More…]
FORT MADISON – The Iowa State Penitentiary has identified the presence of contraband drugs within the institution, and is taking appropriate steps to address the situation. The facility released the names today of five offenders [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERG PCC EDITOR FORT MADISON –Iowa Department of Corrections officials are changing procedures at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison due to an increase in drug and contraband activity at the prison. [Read More…]
PCC STAFF FORT MADISON – Iowa State Penitentiary recently adopted two dogs from PAWS – the no-kill animal shelter in Fort Madison. There are other prisons in Iowa that have dog programs, each allows for [Read More…]
FORT MADISON – The Fort Madison Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassador Club made a trip out the Iowa State Penitentiary on Friday to welcome new warden Patti Wachtendorf. Wachtendorf officially took the position last month [Read More…]
UPDATED WITH COMMENTS FROM FORT MADISON MAYOR BRAD RANDOLPH BY CHUCK VANDENBERG PCC EDITOR FORT MADISON – As part of the state’s mandated budget cuts signed into law in January, the Iowa Department of Corrections [Read More…]
PCC STAFF FORT MADISON – Local community, Iowa State Penitentiary, county and state officials packed the ISP conference room Friday to bid a fond farewell to the prison’s warden, Nick [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERG PCC EDITOR FORT MADISON – Most young children have dreams of what they want to be when they grow up. Typically those dreams change as we mature and move into [Read More…]
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