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LOWEST ITS BEEN IN NEARLY 3 YEARS... AND MORE RELEASES ARE ON THE WAY "SINCE MARCH 1, WE HAD 811 TOTAL RELEASES." DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS DIRECTOR BETH SKINNER SAYS SHE IS WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE IOWA BOARD OF PAROLE... TO RELEASE INMATES THAT WOULD LIKELY SUCCEED IN COMMUNITY SETTINGS. FOUR HUNDRED EIGHTY TWO INMATES ARE APPROVED RIGHT NOW FOR RELEASE. NINETY MORE ARE APPROVED FOR FUTURE RELEASES. "SKINNER: TOGETHER OUR AGENCIES ARE WORKING TO FIND A BALANCE OF GOOD PUBLIC SAFETY AND SAFETY OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF OUR STAFF AND THOSE INCARCERATED." THE BOARD OF PAROLE HAS DOUBLED ITS STAFF TO MEET THE SURGE OF RELEASES... BUT HAS NOT CHANGED ITS RISK EVALUATION PROCESS "BOETTGER: WE HAVE TWO GOALS: REHABILITATE EACH OFFENDER, MAKE SURE THEY ARE READY TO COME BACK INTO COMMUNITY, AND PROTECT THE COMMUNITY FROM SOMEONE WHO IS NOT A CREDIBLE RISK TO TAKE AT THIS TIME FOR RELEASE." SKINNER SAYS FINDING SAFE... SUSTAINABLE HOUSING IS CRITICAL FOR THOSE RELEASED... OR PAROLED... BACK IN A COMMUNITY PAROLE VIOLATORS MAKE UP A LARGE PORTION OF THOSE ADMITTED TO PRISONS RIGHT NOW... BUT SKINNER SAYS THE DOC IS ASKING LOCAL CORRECTIONS AGENCIES TO KEEP VIOLATORS IN THEIR COMMUNITIES AS LONG AS THEY DO NOT POSE AN IMMINENT PUBLIC SAFETY RISK. THE DOC IS ALSO ASKING COUNTY OFFICIALS TO KEEP ANY INMATE WITH COVID-19 QUARANTINED... AND NOT TRANSFER THEM INTO THE STATE PRISON SYSTEM. THE POLK COUNTY JAIL HAS REDUCED ITS NUMBER OF INMATES FROM 1000 A DAY TO 700... BUT SOCIAL DISTANCING IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE. "RULLMAN: JAIL IS ONLY

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The Iowa Department of Corrections announced Monday that it will release some inmates in the wake of Iowa’s first COVID-19 cases in prison.One inmate and two staff members at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville tested positive for the novel coronavirus over the weekend.Department of Corrections Director Beth Skinner said the department is in the process of letting 482 prisoners out early to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus behind bars. Skinner said 90 more are approved for future releases.“Together, our agencies are working to find a balance of good public safety and safety of the institutions of our staff and those incarcerated,” Skinner said.The Board of Parole said it doubled its staff to meet the surge of releases but has not changed its risk evaluation process“We have two goals: rehabilitate each offender, make sure they are ready to come back into community and protect the community from someone who is not a credible risk to take at this time for release,” said Andrew Boettger, vice chair of the Iowa Parole Board.Skinner said finding safe, sustainable housing is critical for those released or paroled back into a community.Parole violators make up a large portion of those admitted to prisons right now, but Skinner said the Iowa DOC is asking local corrections agencies to keep violators in their communities as long as they do not pose an imminent public safety risk.The Iowa DOC also asked county officials to keep any inmate with COVID-19 quarantined and not to transfer them into the state prison system.The Polk County Jail said it reduced its inmates from 1,000 per day to 700, but social distancing is nearly impossible.“Jail is only so big,” Polk County Lt. Jeff Rullman said. “(It has) 850 staff along with inmates. That's pretty tough to stay six feet apart."