Funding for the Iowa Department of Corrections has come under increased scrutiny since the March 23 murders of two Anamosa State Penitentiary employees.

State Auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat who told the Carroll Times Herald on May 27 he is considering a run for governor in 2022, is among the critics of Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds over prison funding.

“Dozens of correctional officers sent to hospital over the last 5 years due to assault on the job: $0,” Sand tweeted May 28. He then said, “A few threats & some protestors on the Governor’s lawn: $400,000,” with a link to a KCRG-TV story about the state paying $400,000 for a fence around the Terrace Hill mansion where the governor resides.

Sand later tweeted May 28 the $0 figure “is focused on years of violence leading up to now that saw no action.”

“No one would read this tweet and think I was saying DOC doesn’t exist or is costless,” Sand said in a third tweet on May 28. “I’m saying the violence saw no meaningful response.”

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This episode of the Fact Checker podcast was researched and written by John Steppe of The Gazette and is co-hosted by The Gazette's Erin Jordan, Michaela Ramm, and Marissa Payne. The Fact Check podcast is produced by Stephen M. Colbert and music is Lobby Time by Kevin MacLeod.

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3986-lobby-time/

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