Iowa isn’t exactly famous for our high-level criminal activity. We do have a few prisons here, though.

Iowa has eight prisons.
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In 2015 (the most recent available data) there were 8,936 violent crimes and 72 murders in Iowa.
1. The Anamosa State Penitentiary is a maximum security facility located in the town of Anamosa.
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There are 880 inmates, here. The serial killer John Wayne Gacy served time here, as did another famous serial killer; Robert Hansen.
2. The Iowa Medical and Classification Center is in Coralville.
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About 900 inmates live here. It's a classification center for adults on their way to prison. A 20-bed unit houses high-risk female inmates. This facility also provides psychiatric evaluations for convicted criminals.
3. The Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville is a medium security facility with 510 inmates and 190 staff members.
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It has a facility called "return to confinement" that is specifically for repeat offenders who are also in violation of their parole agreement. It is used for intensive treatment and rehabilitation.

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4. The Fort Dodge Correctional Facility is a medium security prison on 60 acres.
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It houses 1,183 inmates. 75 of them are in segregation. In 2015, a correctional officer was hospitalized after being brutally attacked by an inmate.
5. The Clarinda Correctional Facility is located in southwest Iowa.
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This is a unique facility that houses inmates who are (in addition to being criminals) severely mentally ill or who are sex offenders.
6. The Newton Correctional Facility has just over 1,000 inmates.
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The center specializes in working with inmates to challenge criminal thinking. It also works closely with inmates struggling with substance abuse issues.
7. The North Central Correction Facility in Rockwell City opened in 1982.
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Just under 500 inmates live here.
8. The Iowa Department of Corrections maximum security prison for men in Fort Madison has a capacity of 550 people.
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When capital punishment was legal in Iowa, executions were performed here. The last person to be executed here was Victor Feguer, who murdered Dubuque doctor Edward Bartels. In 1981, inmates rioted and took eight employees hostage. The leader of the riot was 21-year-old convicted murderer, Kenneth Sheffey. Inmate Gary Eugene Tyson's body was found in the prison kitchen's storage room after the riot.

These Iowa prisons aren’t the most deadly in the country, but they are certainly notable.

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