Republicans, Democrats offer plan to close Lincoln Hills by 2020, open regional teen lockups

MADISON – Democrats and Republicans rolled out a plan Tuesday to close Lincoln Hills School for Boys by July 2020 and open teen lockups around Wisconsin — some run by counties, some by the state.

The proposal is on the fast track in the state Assembly, but it may not be able to get through the state Senate before the Legislature wraps up its work for the year this spring. Both houses are controlled by Republicans.

The plan to close the problem-ridden teen prison is similar to one offered last month by GOP Gov. Scott Walker but departs from it in places. In the biggest shift, the plan proposed by Republicans and Democrats in the Assembly would put counties — instead of the state — in charge of some of the new facilities. 

The latest plan will be "way more effective at saving lives and saving money" than the current system, said Rep. David Bowen (D-Milwaukee).

"There are millions of dollars that will be able to be saved at the county level," he said.

Supporters want to move quickly, with a hearing before the Assembly Corrections Committee on Thursday and a vote in the Assembly as soon as next week.

But there are fewer signs of support in the Senate for closing Lincoln Hills, which is the subject of multiple lawsuits and a 3-year-old criminal investigation into prisoner abuse.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) didn’t rule out passing the Assembly measure but made it clear there was no guarantee his house would approve it. He said he wanted to make sure sheriffs were on board with it.

"I don't want to move too quickly," Fitzgerald said. 

Moving quickly — whether on the Assembly bill or a different one —– is likely the only option if anything is to happen. Senate leaders hope to finish their work for the year in March.

Walker spokeswoman Amy Hasenberg said the governor is willing to work with legislators on the issue.

Those suing the state over Lincoln Hills welcomed the idea of closing the teen prison but cautioned that they had concerns about how the legislation was structured. 

"The risk here is that the state will replicate the mistreatment in Lincoln Hills at the new county-level facilities," said a statement from Larry Dupuis, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin. 

The ACLU of Wisconsin and Juvenile Law Center sued the state last year over conditions at Lincoln Hills and secured an injunction that forced the state to curb its use of pepper spray and solitary confinement. The lawsuit is ongoing. 

Under the Assembly legislation, Lincoln Hills would close by July 2020 and its inmates would be transferred to the new facilities. Lincoln Hills could be converted to an adult prison, but there is no guarantee of that, as there was in Walker's proposal. 

The state would be responsible for housing the most serious juvenile offenders, while counties would take care of those who committed lesser offenses. How their care is funded would remain as it is now, with the state paying for the serious offenders and the counties paying for the others. 

Backers said they expected costs to decrease for counties because they believe they could run their own facilities for less than the state does. Now, the state charges counties $390 per day per inmate, or more than $142,000 a year for each inmate. 

Counties could establish their own facilities; partner with other counties to run them together; or contract with other counties to hold their juveniles. The state would pay 95% of the cost of refurbishing county facilities or building new ones.  

No cost estimates for the legislation is available, but Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said he expected it to cost less than the $80 million in Walker's plan. Walker's plan included funding for five state-run regional lockups and an expansion of Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center in Madison so it could hold more offenders who have mental health problems.   

Vos said he expected an expansion of Mendota to happen under the Assembly plan, just as it would under Walker's.

In addition, the state Department of Corrections would run an undetermined number of institutions for juvenile inmates. Vos said he would like to see the state refurbish Southern Oaks School for Girls in his home of Racine County as one of the state facilities. 

In another change, the state Department of Children and Families — rather than the Department of Corrections — would have a say in how the county facilities are run. Backers said that would help make sure the focus of the lockups is on treatment.

In a series of reports over the past two years, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found teen inmates had been injured at Lincoln Hills, including one who had to have parts of two toes amputated after a guard slammed a door on his foot. Officials at Lincoln Hills trained staff improperly; failed to preserve video evidence; didn't document serious incidents; and often ignored their duty to report matters to parents and police.

Walker's office was first notified of problems at the prison in 2012 by a Racine County judge, but little was done at the time. Later, Walker's administration implemented some changes, including giving workers more training and equipping them with body cameras. 

In 2015, a sweeping criminal probe began of Lincoln Hills and its sister facility on the same grounds, Copper Lake School for Girls. That FBI-led investigation is ongoing, and in December 2017 federal prosecutors notified two former guards they could be charged over allegations they broke a 16-year-old inmate's arm and left him naked in a cell for hours. The inmate said in a civil rights lawsuit that he wasn't taken to a doctor for a week. 

Other lawsuits over conditions are pending, including the one brought by the ACLU of Wisconsin.

Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.