MADISON, Wis. — The warden of a troubled prison in Wisconsin quit because the prison is on lockdown, there is an ongoing federal probe, and several inmates have died.
Warden of the Waupun Correctional Institution The Wisconsin State Journal said that Randall Hepp gave his notice of resignation on Tuesday. The newspaper got a copy of an email Hepp sent to jail staff in which he said his choice wasn’t easy but that he thought it would be good for the facility. Adding to that, he said that the jail was getting safer.
The Associated Press sent an email on Sunday morning asking for a reaction from state Department of Corrections media officials and Britt Cudaback, who is the spokesperson for Gov. Tony Evers. No one replied right away.
According to the State Journal, Brad Mlodzik will become warden at Waupun on June 30. He has been deputy warden there before.
The state Department of Corrections had to lock down Waupun, Green Bay, and Stanley jails because they were always short-staffed with guards. In October, prisoners at Waupun filed a federal case saying that the conditions were cruel and unusual punishment. The case is still going on. Stanley got back to normal in late November. At Waupun and Green Bay, some limits on movement have been lifted, but some are still in place.
In March, Cudaback, Evers’s spokesperson, said that federal authorities are looking into what seems to be a smuggling ring involving Waupun Correctional workers. She then said that several searches of the prison had shown that people were getting illegal things like cell phones and drugs. Since May 2023, at least 11 jail workers have been put on leave because of the investigation.
There have been four deaths at Waupun since June 2023. One killed himself while being locked up alone, another overdosed on fentanyl and died, and a third had a stroke. In February, the fourth prisoner was found dead at the gate. His death is still being looked into. The inmate’s daughter has filed a federal lawsuit saying that Waupun officials failed to give him enough mental health care and medicine while he was in solitary confinement and then killed himself.
In May 2020, Hepp became the new warden at Waupun. His first job in the state jail system was as a guard at Dodge Correctional Institution in 1984.
