‘Large fight’ breaks out at Alaska’s maximum-security prison in Seward amid downsizing effort

Spring Creek Correctional Center is seen in an undated photo. (Photo courtesy of Alaska Department of Corrections)

By Corinne Smith

Alaska Beacon

Officials with the Alaska Department of Corrections told lawmakers a “large fight” with a hefty price tag broke out at the state’s maximum security prison in January, amid downsizing and cost-cutting efforts. 

The fight at Spring Creek Correctional Center involved 50 inmates, some of whom sustained minor injuries, officials said. 

“Quick napkin math, we believe it to be just under $200,000 that that cost us,” Jen Winkelman, the commissioner for the corrections department, told lawmakers. “Anecdotally, the pressures of moving the individuals around and being at capacity in our max unit —  I believe that, (and) we all believe that that plays a part in it,” she said.

She said the altercation increased agency spending on medical and transportation costs to transfer those involved. 

The disclosure came in a budget update to members of the House Finance subcommittee for DOC on Feb 10, as lawmakers are reviewing the department’s additional $24 million spent last year, and request for just over a $500 million budget for next year.

Spring Creek is the state’s only maximum-security prison for men, located just outside Seward on the Kenai Peninsula, and housed approximately 375 inmates last year. 

Last year, the legislature directed DOC to close one of three housing units at the prison, which contained 247 beds, as a cost-cutting measure. It was intended “to direct personnel to other areas of the facility, reduce overtime and find efficiencies,” according to a presentation by DOC officials. 

The housing unit was closed July 14, and the inmates relocated to other housing in Spring Creek and to other prisons across the state, April Wilkerson, deputy commissioner told lawmakers. She said Spring Creek is now over capacity, with a waitlist of inmates to transfer into the maximum-security prison. 

“Ultimately we are not achieving the savings that was identified in the department’s budget,” Wilkerson said.

According to the department, a fight broke out between two groups of inmates on Jan. 24.  It involved 50 people, according to department spokesperson Betsy Holley. “Staff responded quickly. 5 inmates had non-threatening injuries and were treated. No staff were injured,” she said in an email after the hearing. 

Holley said the fight lasted approximately 10 minutes, and staff responded effectively. “Those inmates involved are currently undergoing the discipline process,” she said, according to DOC policies, which may include suspension from activities or solitary confinement. 

Holley said there were no further details on the cost estimate.   

On Thursday, Winkelman said in a short interview between hearings at the Capitol that DOC officials reported the incident to lawmakers to illustrate how incidents can occur beyond the department’s control. 

“These things happen, and they have a cost incurred, and we can’t plan for it,” Winkelman said. “It happened at eight o’clock in the morning. But they happen often — little things happen often, that have big price tags. So that’s the point that we’re trying to make.”

• Corinne Smith started reporting in Alaska in 2020, serving as a radio reporter for several local stations across the state including in Petersburg, Haines, Homer and Dillingham. She spent two summers covering the Bristol Bay fishing season. Originally from Oakland, California, she got her start as a reporter, then morning show producer, at KPFA Radio in Berkeley. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.