WAUPUN, Wis. — Gov. Tony Evers proposed a half-million-dollar plan to revamp Wisconsin’s prison system. For families with loved one’s serving time at the Waupun prison, these changes cannot come soon enough.
Sharita Carlisle’s cousin, David Thompson, is currently serving 34 years at the Waupun prison after being convicted of felony robbery and felony burglary.
“He kind of looked just like me and it was natural for me to say he looked like my natural son,” said Carlisle.
Carlisle said Thompson started to get into trouble with the law at an early age.
She said there were many factors at play that led him to a life behind bars, including the death of his father at an early age.
“I think it was much of that and a lot of poverty, just growing up in poverty, not having access to things other kids may have access to,” said Carlisle.
Carlisle said she thinks prison should be a place for rehabilitation where people come out better than when they went in.
She said her cousin is not currently getting the help he needs while serving time at the Waupun prison.
“I understand he messed up. He made a mistake and we all make mistakes in life but to be treated as if you are an animal or worse than an animal,” said Carlisle.
Under Evers’ proposed plan, $245.3 million would be spent to demolish the existing cell halls at Waupun Correctional Institution and convert them into a state-of-the-art, medium-security facility to house 600 individuals.
Spending would also designate the institution as Wisconsin’s first “vocational village” to offer skills training programs aimed at helping incarcerated individuals return to the workforce when they have completed their sentences. It’s based on models in other states, such as Louisiana and Missouri, and its goal is to lower the risk of reoffending.
Rohn Bishop, the mayor of Waupun, said the prison is part of the city’s heritage and plays an important role in the local economy.
“The fact that they are our largest employer, one of our biggest buyers of electricity, our biggest user of the sewer utility, it is very important that we keep these institutions here in Waupun,” said Bishop. “The fact that they are our largest employer, one of our biggest buyers of electricity, our biggest user of the sewer utility, it is very important that we keep these institutions here in Waupun,” said Bishop.
Bishop has been inside of the prison and said it could use some updates.
“We have to remember it is a prison and people don’t get to Waupun Correctional Institution by being good,” said Bishop. “Parts of the prison are fairly new and parts of the prison are fairly old and the cell blocks are fairly old and some of the living conditions could be updated some.”
Bishop has looked over the governor’s proposed plan and said that whether it stays a vocational village or remains a maximum security prison is not up to him.
“Those are decisions for the governor and the legislature to make,” said Bishop. “I want to stay in my lane as the mayor and as the mayor, I wanted to advocate that we keep the prison here.”
Carlisle said her cousin has been struggling with mental health issues while inside the prison.
She said he was recently found in a pool of his own blood and worries that change won’t come soon enough.
“He was very close to death, I don’t think the jail staff took it seriously. I am aware they have a new warden there now, but I am still not sure with a recent death there is going to be any change,” said Carlisle.
Evers’ prison reform plan still needs approval from Republicans, who control the legislature’s budget-writing committee. As it stands, the governor’s spending proposal for correctional facilities almost certainly won’t be adopted “as is.”
“The caucus has to work through improving that plan. As I mentioned once before a few weeks ago when I was asked about it, so that’s all part of the process,” State Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, who co-chairs the Joint Committee on Finance, told reporters Thursday. “That’s one area where we will prepare legislative improvements to that plan like we have had to do with other things that have come out of this administration historically, and we will work through that process in a normal fashion.”
Wisconsin Department of Corrections Secretary Jared Hoy has been invited to testify before the Joint Committee on Finance on April 1 about the budget and how the proposal would impact the agency.
