MADISON, WI (WSAU) — Governor Tony Evers will close out his first week in office by visiting the troubled Lincoln Hills youth prison.
In a statement on Wednesday Evers said he will make the trip to Irma in order to get a better understanding of the problems at the facility and how they impact both employees and those who are jailed.
The Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake youth prisons have been the subject of lawsuits and scrutiny over the last few years. During his final year in office, Governor Scott Walker proposed shutting down the facility in favor of a series of county-run regional facilities. The proposal was signed into law last March and calls for the Irma facility to be re-purposed as a facility specializing in drug treatment.
Current plans call for Lincoln Hills to be closed by 2021.
Evers made visiting the facility a promise during his campaign. Governor Scott Walker did not visit any of the states’ prisons during his tenure.
