Gov. Tony Evers’ newest plan for Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections system proposes closing the Green Bay Correctional Institution and reformations to multiple other state prisons. The plan also includes converting the maximum-security prison, Waupun Correctional Institution, to a medium-security prison focusing on vocational rehabilitation.

Once the prison in Waupun is converted, the Stanley Correctional Institution located in Stanley, Wisconsin, would in turn change from a medium to maximum security prison to offer more space for inmates from the GBCI, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

The GBCI is located in Allouez, Wisconsin, and Village President Jim Rafter supports the governor’s plan.

Rafter, who has presided since 2017, has worked to close the 127-year-old prison after concluding the environment and construction of the facility were not safe for inmates or staff.

“It [GBCI] was built in 1898,” said Rafter. “It was built for 740 inmates … they currently have over 1000. They are understaffed, which just makes it terribly dangerous.”

The GBCI has experienced multiple obstacles since 2024, including resignations, deaths, criminal charges, lawsuits and federal investigations, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

Each of these obstacles circulates the main issue of overcrowding.

“When people are losing their lives, when people are getting attacked, when people are getting locked up in cells meant for one and you’re putting two in there, it’s not humane,” Rafter said.

UW Law Professor Ion Meyn explained the overuse of violence and solitary confinement by guards are only some of the consequences of overcrowding.

“You have unnecessary deaths that you can’t give good, proper medical care when there’s overcrowding,” said Meyn. “You have lots of sickness that could have been reduced, but can’t be in overcrowded situations … you have people who suffer from really serious mental health issues anyway, in prison that are accentuated because of overcrowding.”

The GBCI isn’t the only facility facing these issues — other prisons listed in Evers’ plans have all been involved in the controversies.

For example, one of the two juvenile facilities that would be closed down, Lincoln Hills, was involved in a scandal surrounding the death of a prison counselor by one of the inmates according to the Associated Press.

“I applaud those who work at GBCI,” said Rafter. “I am very thankful for what they do, but they deserve a better place to do their job … They need to get better so that we have safe communities.”

One of these programs that will be implemented as a part of the governor’s plan is a focus on vocational training.

Clinical professor and expert on incarceration Adam Stevenson explained the training entails hands-on job training to prepare inmates for release.

While the GBCI is old, understaffed and overcrowded, closing this facility could lead to an even greater overcapacity, according to Stevenson.

But, Evers’ plan outlines a solution to this potential problem by implementing an early-release program and limiting new admissions. According to Stevenson, one of the largest percentages of admissions to the prison system are not new offenses, but some sort of violation involving the person’s supervision post-incarceration.

“We don’t need more prisons,” Meyn said. “We need less people in prisons and less prisons.”

Lawmakers have known for decades about the shortcomings of the prison system in the United States, according to both Rafter and Meyn.

“We’re acknowledging there’s a problem, and very often that’s hard to do in politics,” said Rafter. “Because if you admit there’s a problem, you’re accepting responsibility to fix it.”

Back in 2017, lawmakers came together to support the closure of Lincoln Hills, but according to Stevenson, the difference of partisan opinion led the facility to remain open eight years later.

Rafter continues to stay “cautiously optimistic” that Evers’ plan will succeed this time around.

“I’m celebrating the fact that Democrats and Republicans agree on the same thing, and that is that Green Bay should be closed,” said Rafter.