Lawmakers grill Wisconsin prison officials over safety at youth detention facilities

State lawmakers grilled prison administrators over safety at Wisconsin’s youth detention facilities Tuesday, following the death of 49-year-old Corey Proulx, who worked as a youth counselor at the Lincoln Hills School for boys.

Two incarcerated teens face charges including homicide in Proulx’s death.

Lincoln Hills and the nearby Copper Lake School for girls have been operating under a consent decree since 2018, after a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union described widespread civil rights violations at the scandal-plagued youth prisons.

Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections is now in “substantial compliance” with 43 of the 50 mandates set by that consent decree, according to a court-appointed monitor.

Reforms mandated by the agreement include limiting the use of handcuffs and strip searches, and prohibiting the confinement of youth to their rooms when used as a punishment.

The consent decree also barred the use of pepper spray against youth. Sara Proulx, Corey Proulx’s sister-in-law, told the state Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety that provision may have put her in brother-in-law in danger.

“If youth counselor Corey Proulx had been allowed to have pepper spray or another means to defend himself without causing excessive harm, he would likely be here with us today,” she said. “We understand that in the past, there were correctional officers and youth counselors who abused their positions of power with excessive use of solitary confinement and the use of bear mace or pepper spray. However, the transgressions of a few should not affect the safety of all.”

In light of those concerns, state Sen. Mary Felzowski, R-Tomahawk, a member of committee, said Tuesday her office will write a letter to the judge who approved the consent decree, asking him to revise the agreement.

DOC administrators said Tuesday it’s impossible to say whether access to pepper spray could have saved Proulx’s life.

“I’ve had instances where OC is effective,” Lincoln Hills Superintendent Klint Trevino said, referring to oleoresin capsicum, commonly known as pepper spray. “I’ve had instances where subjects are unaffected by it.”

Trevino said one downside of pepper spray is that it “contaminates the scene” of a confrontation.

“You contaminate first responders that are arriving to the scene. I’ve experienced individuals contaminating themselves with OC,” Trevino said. “It can complicate the situation.”

Following Proulx’s death, the DOC has launched an internal investigation to “confirm all of the facts of the events, understand the circumstances and to determine if any policies and procedures were violated,” Corrections Secretary Jared Hoy told the committee.

There are about 45 boys living at Lincoln Hills and about a dozen girls at Copper Lake, DOC officials said Tuesday. That’s down from 2018, when there were close to 130 boys at Lincoln Hills and about 16 girls at Copper Lake.

A state law known as Act 185 set a deadline to close the troubled Lincoln Hills boys facility and an adjoining prison for girls. But that deadline lapsed three years ago, amid stalled plans for replacement facilities.

During Tuesday’s hearing, state Sen. LaTonya Johnson, D-Milwaukee, cast blame on the Legislature’s Republican-controlled budget committee. Lincoln Hills would be closed already if lawmakers had fully granted previous funding requests from Democratic Governor Tony Evers’ administration for replacement facilities, she suggested.

Construction is set to begin this fall on one juvenile detention facility, which should open by 2026 in Milwaukee. Additionally, in a recent budget proposal, Evers asked for $83 million to build a second juvenile prison. Republican lawmakers rejected that request, but did agree to about $6 million for a planning and site selection of that facility in Dane County.

Compared to Lincoln Hills in northern Wisconsin, those locations would closer to where many of the incarcerated teens have families.

It’s not yet clear when Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake will finally be shut down, Hoy said Tuesday.

“Let’s get these facilities funded as soon as possible, so that we all can realize the original vision of (Act) 185, which is closure of Lincoln Hills and youth closer to home in their respective communities,” Hoy told legislators.