Clarke Improves House of Corrections

Nice to see some progress.

The once troubled House of Correction in Franklin has undergone a major transformation, with big improvements in security, staffing, maintenance and fiscal oversight, according to a report done by the National Institute of Corrections.

The turnaround over the past year under the management of Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. has turned a “deeply troubled” lockup into a good jail, according to the report, written by California-based corrections consultant Jeffrey A Schwartz.

Still, the jail - renamed by Clarke the “Milwaukee Correctional Center-South Facility” - has a long way to go before it could be deemed excellent, the report says. Ongoing problems include sometimes being too thinly staffed, a core group of embittered workers and inmate food and recreation problems, the report says.