LANSING— As the state pondershow to spend billions of dollars in federal relief money,a recent report from the Michigan Department of Correctionsdetailsmore than $255 millionin needed prison improvements and repairs.
Problems withmold, fire safety systems, and insufficient heatare among the concerns identified in a five-year capital plan the department assembled from reports from prisons around the state. The report describes a few other problems as“dangerous” and potentially “life threatening," though it does not elaborate on why the problems are viewed so seriously and a prison spokesman downplayed the department's own report as containing inaccuracies and hyperbole.
Michigan has 28state prisons housing about just over 32,000prisoners. The oldest Michigan prison is 132 years old. The newest one opened 20 years ago.
Despite theapparent urgency sometimes used to describe the needed repairs in reports produced annually, manysuchproblems have been repeated in annual capital plans for five years or more, without ever getting addressed.
Chris Gautz, a spokesman for the Corrections Department, downplayed the significance of the problems and said the prison managers who wrote the reports— which are sent to state lawmakers — made mistakes when they repeatedly described situations as dangerous or potentially life threatening.
"We do not use the 'potentially life threatening' term anymore as it causes confusion," said Gautz, though he saida few such references mistakenly made it into the recent five-year capital plan.
But Jonathan Marko, a Detroit attorney who has successfully sued the department several times and has more cases pending, said unaddressed dangers inside Michigan prisons is a "systematic problem," and there is a disconnect between what prison maintenance workers know is needed and what officials in Lansing are willing to pay for.
"I don't know why they don't fix the root causes of these problems," Marko said. "Even worse, they deny the problems are there."
At Newberry Correctional Facility in the eastern Upper Peninsula, the need to provide and remodel all entrances to the housing units with double doors was described in a spreadsheet attached to areportprepared in June by Newberry physical plant superintendent Craig Carruthers,as "dangerous or potentially life-threatening," and affecting safety and security. There was a similar description in a Newberry report produced five years ago, but neither report elaborates on why the lack of double doors presents such great risk.
Gautz said he checked Friday with Newberry officials and the facility does not believe the lack of double doors at the entrances to housing units is anywhere near that serious. The report itself is inaccurate, he said.
But Byron Osborn, president of the Michigan Corrections Organization union, said double security doors"provide an important layer of security and control, especially in the event of a disturbance," providing "staff in the building the ability to better control movement in and out."
At Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility near Ypsilanti, the entire heating, ventilation and air conditioning system on the west side of the prison, which serves many housing units, is 43 years old and "needs to be replaced," according to a spreadsheet attached to a May report from physical plant supervisor Kevin Kotzianto Warden Jeremy Howard.
The same determination was made in a report five years ago, records show.
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Also at the state's only prison for women, a6,000-square-foot depressed area of soil in the "main activity area" between two buildingsfills with water that prevents grass mowing and is a "hazard to inmates," the report says. It recommends filling in the area at a cost of just over $50,000.
That is another mistake, Gautz said. In fact, the area prison officials say they want filled in "is designed to gather the runoff water so it does not run onto the walkways/roadways."
The sidewalks and concrete covering utility tunnels at the women's prison are cracking and deteriorating and need to be replaced because they are creating a "possible trip hazard to staff and inmates," the report says. The $600,000 job was given a priority of "4" in a scale in which number '1" is the highest priority and "12" is the lowest.
At Saginaw Correctional Facility, the cell door controls in three separate housing units were described as "beyond useful life," with both parts and the controller "obsolete," according to a spreadsheet attached toa report prepared in April by Ed LaPlant, the prison's physical plant superintendent.The work, estimated to cost $125,000 per unit, was given a priority ranking of "3".
"It should be noted that this facility is running at over double its design capacity," LaPlant said in the report prepared foracting Warden Gary Minard.
Saginaw Correctional Facility near Freeland operates within its current rated capacity of about 1,500 prisoners. But like nearly allMichigan prisons, it operates well beyond its design capacity. That is becausethe department arbitrarily increased the prisons' rated capacities decadesago, without increasing space, when it began double-bunking prisoners as a matter of policy.
Also at Saginaw, the need to add 500 square feet of storage space to the prison warehouse, in order to remove storage from above refrigeration units, was described as "dangerous and potentially life threatening." The priority ranking for that $100,000 job was left blank.
The same recommendation to correct a "potentially life threatening" warehouse situation was made in a report five years ago, records show.
Gautz said that wording is just another mistakefound in the reports. "It's not a life-threatening issue."
At Marquette Branch Correctional Facility, kitchen air units are leaking water into the ceiling, causing drywall and insulation to become saturated and fall, the report says. Replacing the units at a cost of $165,000 was given a priority ranking of "3."
The report also outlines the need to replace fire alarm and suppression systems in areas of various prisons around the state.
At Muskegon Correctional Facility, the fire alarm system for nine units is "beyond its useful life," and "parts are no longer made" for it, the report says. Replacing the system, a $100,000 job, was given a priority ranking of "7."
Also at Muskegon, the roofs are leaking and beyond their useful life over 16 units, including housing units, the guard towers, and the food service area. Replacing the roofs, a $4 million job, was given a priority ranking of "2."
At Baraga Correctional Facility in the western U.P., the maintenance worker "runs risk of being electrocuted" because two electrical/telecommunications manholes located at the bottom of a steep hill are filling with water, officials said. No priority ranking was given for the $64,000 job of removing and replacing the manholes.
Also at Baraga, the boiler in the education building "doesn't provide adequate heating," impairing both the building operation and personal comfort, the report said. The $35,000 replacement of the boiler was given a priority ranking of "5."
At Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia, 10 shower walls, ceilings and floors in six housing units are "in bad shape," with water soaking up in the cement behind the tiles and "this promotesmold growth," the report says. The proposed $575,000 solution to this problem was given a priority ranking of "4."
Black mold around the showers and elsewhere, caused by excess moisture and poor ventilation, has long been a complaint of prisoners at Women's Huron Valley and it is among the allegations in a class-action lawsuit over prison conditions brought by Marko and other attorneys. Gautz has repeatedly denied such a problem exists.
Also at Handlon, the windows in all housing units are old "and few seal the weather out, especially in high winds," affecting heating, energy consumption, and prisoner comfort, the report said. Replacing the windows would cost $6.9 million and was given a priority ranking of "10."
At Cotton Correctional Facility near Jackson, "the roofs on all housing units are in desperate need of replacement," the report said.
In one of the buildings at Parnall Correctional Facility near Jackson, "our current windows are outdated, leak air and water, and they pose a threat to security for staff and inmates," said the report. The proposed $500,000 fix was given a priority ranking of "7."
The department does not receive a lot of money from the Legislature for capital outlay projects, Gautz said.
In its recent budget, it received $21 million to complete a training facility near Whitmore Lake and $10.1 million to upgrade personal protectivedevices, pay for a water-sewer project at Newberry, and replace several roofs at prisons across the state, he said.
The department will also pool any unspent funds in each prison's budget and put that money toward capital projects, he said. That amounted to about $73 million in 2020 and will likely be a little more than that in 2021, he said.
Security issues are among those that receive the highest priority. Security-related repairs will often be addressed as soon as they arrive and not get placed on any five-year plan, he said.
Gautz said he is not aware of prison officials requesting that the department get a share of billions in federal relief money that Michigan has received, so that it can make more capital improvements than it has been able to complete in recent years.
Osborn, who heads the union representing Michigan corrections officers, said the state should do just that.
Corrections officers have two reasons to want the prisons to be safe and well-functioning, Osborn said. Prisoners who are content are more easily managed, and officers have to work long hours in the same conditions in which the prisoners live, he said.
Problems with cell doors can impact officer safety and Michigan prisons have a wide range of locking systems, from cells with steel bars and giant keys at some of the oldest prisons to newer electronic systems at others, Osborn said.
"We would hope that they would have an interest in knocking out some of these things that have been on the priority list for years," he said.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.
