Lack of programming still worries warden as he gets set to retire

By MaryHelen Swanson
With more than 36 years in corrections, Burt Mohs will be retiring this week from his position as warden at the Rush City Correctional Facility.
ìItís time to move on,î he said.
The lack of programming at the Rush City facility remains a concern for Mohs as he leaves.
As he noted last week at the meeting of the community advisory committee, over 60 percent of the offenders in the prison are unassigned to a program.
The prison is now considered full, with the average population ìbouncing around 1,000î according to Mohs.
Of that number, around 200 are in the education program and 28 in industry.
Some are involved in the yard crews, some are kitchen workers, but not enough are involved in a program and Mohs said inmates donít do well idle.
The economy, Mohs told the Rush City folks, did impact the industry program. He said there could be as many as 250 in industry work if the jobs were there.
It would make lives easier, he said.
Other than lack of programming, Mohs believes things are going relatively smoothly at the prison given the quick growth.
He noted that there are a lot of new, inexperienced staff working with experienced offenders.
The new staff, he said, will gain much from on-the-job experiences as well as from working with seasoned staff.
Jim Zawacki, an assistant warden at the prison, will be acting warden for the next few months. A new warden should be named by July.
Mike Robinson, Chisago County commissioner and Rush City resident serving on the citizen committee, asked Mohs about the stress level of workers in corrections.
Mohs said stress comes in dealing with such a volatile group - you worry about what could happen, he said.
Prison work, he went on, is kind of like youíve always got something hanging over your head.
He said his heart pounds if he gets a call at 2 a.m.
You worry about something bad happening to the staff ... and to the offenders.
He said the prison can get sued if a prisoner gets hurt.
And you have to deal with budgets, with staffing, he said, there are a lot of things that have to balance.
ìI like working in corrections,î he said, Iíve done it all my adult life. But itís not easy.î
Mohs said interpersonal communication is a very important skill in corrections.
If you can talk well, he said, you will do well, you will survive.
Robinson asked Mohs if the prison would be cutting desserts as part of a budget crunch solution.
Mohs said it wouldnít happen, because the state requires a certain amount of calories for offenders and dessert makes up part of those calories. It costs $3.29 per day per offender to feed the inmates.
Itís been at $3.29 for 10 years, Mohs said. The food is a lot like military food, he said, lots of pastas, potatoes, ìfill ëem upî type foods.
In other discussion last week, the citizen group learned that the state department of corrections is discussing double bunking at Stillwater. If that occurs, Rush City could become a Level 5 facility (it is Level 4 now - close custody) and the population would become more stable.
The group learned that there are still 50-70 INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service or Homeland Security) detainees in the Rush City facility and that the department of corrections will continue to house them there because it is a financial issue.
ìThey have not been an issue here,î Mohs said.
He noted that Rush City is the only state facility housing INS detainees, there are some counties that do house some of them.
Rush City resident and prison neighbor Peter Johnson expressed concern over the bright yard lights and loud speakers. He also was concerned about traffic exiting the facility. He was told staff would look into the traffic problem and that at another citizen group meeting there could be a discussion on the physical plant to address the lights and speakers issues.
As for working with the county, Chisago County Sheriff Todd Rivard said other than the long time it takes for deputies to serve papers at the facility, there has been a great working relationship between the prison and the county sheriffís department.
Rivard noted that prior to the prison opening there was concern that it would require a lot of additional deputies.
ìIt hasnít been the case,î Rivard said.
Mohs said most of the issues are dealt with in-house by putting offenders into segregation.
The group also met the new security captain Mark Wilmes who has been in corrections since 1975, most recently at Moose Lake.
Mohsí last day is today, April 23. He looks forward to traveling and continuing his running. He will run in Grandmaís Marathon in Duluth in June, the day after he turns 62.

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