Green Bay prison has resumed normal operations. Inmates say things are not better. • Wisconsin Examiner

After more than a year of lockdown at the Green Bay Correctional Institution, which Protest in Madisonthe prison returned to normal operations on July 28th.

“If you don’t have a job, or … a chapel or something like that, you might be in your cell 23 or 24 hours a day, depending [if] “It’s a day off,” said Michael Johnson, who spoke to the Examiner the day after normal operations returned.

In June, GBCI’s lockdown reached the one-year mark, Fox 11 reported. Over time, the prison has allowed inmates more recreation time. During the week of May 20, GBCI began offering at least two 50-minute recreation hours per week and at least one additional hour per month, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections said.

Now, inmates at GBCI have at least four hours of recreation per week, Kevin Hoffman, deputy communications director for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, told the Examiner on Aug. 2. Those are offered outdoors when the weather is good. Bryant Ellis, who is currently incarcerated at GBCI, said the recreation schedule allows for four hours per week.

“Experienced staff continue to support new officers to ensure operations run smoothly and provide more opportunities for those entrusted to our care,” DOC Secretary Jared Hoy said in a July 22 news release.

For an ongoing series of articles on the Green Bay Correctional Institution, the Wisconsin Examiner interviewed three people currently incarcerated at the prison by telephone. The Examiner spoke with family members of two other inmates and interviewed three people who were formerly at the prison.

Stacy Knapp, whose son is incarcerated at the prison, said in an interview on July 8 that the cells are small and every meal is eaten just a few feet from the toilet.

“The environment is torture,” said Knapp. “Not just the noise level, but also the fact that you are locked in your cell practically 24 hours a day and are not alone, there is no other person in the room.”

Joe Verdegan, a former employee who left the prison in 2020, said there used to be many worthwhile job training programs at GBCI, such as for welders and electricians. When inmates have a job in prison, “they don't want to screw it up,” he said.

“Usually, the people in prison who cause problems are idle,” Verdegan said. “They don't go to school or have a job. And that's when your problems arise. They call it modified curfew or whatever they want to call it. The longer the boys are locked up, the more nervous they get and start acting stupid.”

For technical training, the prison currently offers classes in three areas: operations assistant, carpenter/wood technician and mason, Hoffman said. The facility is looking for a new instructor for the barber program. According to DOC, 34 people were enrolled in vocational technical training at the end of June 2024.

Ellis said he and others at GBCI have not been able to access programs, such as substance abuse and anger management, in years. The DOC website says the department recognizes a person's need for programs upon admission, but tries to enroll them in programs closer to their release date.

“We are supposed to be rehabilitated,” said Ellis, who has been incarcerated at the GBCI since 2018. “This is not a rehabilitation process. We just sit in our cells, basically next door – and do nothing.”

Anger management is a current program, Hoffman said. DOC says a substance abuse disorder treatment program is scheduled to open early next year. NBC 26 reported.

Jordan Coombe said he has not participated in any GBCI programs other than school since arriving at the prison about a year and a half ago.

“I've been trying to get on the programs … they're on my court records where the judge ordered them, and they keep telling me, 'On the list, on the list,'” Coombe said.

Staff shortages in prison affect prison life

If staffing levels allow, GBCI “hopes to resume in-person weekend visits in the fall,” Hoffman said Aug. 2.

Ellis said his Stepmother works weekdays and he hasn't seen her since winter 2023.

The timing is also unfavorable for Brian Coombe, Jordan’s father.

“So in my case, I'm driving five and a half hours there and back for a 90-minute visit,” said Brian Coombe. “And I can't even do that on the weekend.”

GBCI inmates eat their meals in their cells, Hoffman said Aug. 2. Lunch has always been served in the cell due to GBCI's work schedule, “and otherwise this was initially implemented to help mitigate the spread of COVID and due to available staff.” In the coming weeks, GBCI plans to reopen dining halls for breakfast and dinner.

In an interview on July 28, Ellis said that between 2019 and 2024, “we'll probably have the canteen for two weeks.” Johnson said the noise level makes socializing in a cell difficult.

“For some of us, being able to go to the cafeteria is actually very important because it allows us to spend the time outside of our cell that we need. And it also gives us more environment and more space to move around,” Ellis said.

Verdegan said the prison used to have two large dining halls that could feed “300 inmates at once.”

Although staffing levels at GBCI have improved, the prison remains overcrowded and understaffed, according to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. The GBCI population was 1,055 As of 9 Augustwhile the planned capacity of the prison was 749.

An increase in starting pay for correctional officers to at least $33 an hour has helped fill the positions in Green Bay, Hoffman said. The number of unfilled positions for correctional officers and sergeants at GBCI has dropped to 16.4 percent from nearly 41 percent in a late February report, leaving 38 positions open. The number of unfilled positions is expected to decrease, Hoffman said Aug. 2.

By filling vacancies with more staff, GBCI was able to expand its recreational offerings, Hoffman said, and “will be necessary to reopen the dining rooms and extend visiting hours.”

Inmates at GBCI have two showers per week in the bathing area and can also shower during off-duty hours, Hoffman said. Inmates who work at the facility have their own shower area and can shower after their shift or when needed.

“So the minimum is at least twice a week and there are some PIOC who choose to shower daily,” Hoffman said.

According to Ellis, showers can take up part of an inmate's free time. If they go to free time on a shower day – Tuesday or Thursday – and want to shower, they have to shower during the 50-minute free time, he said. He also said that during free time, “they don't let us go outside, even if it's just drizzling.”

This is the first in a series of reports on conditions at the Green Bay Correctional Institution, part of the Examiner's Criminal Justice Reporting Project.