Wisconsin.

at the Waupun Correctional Institute, including the warden, have been arrested and charged for abuse of a prisoner and misconduct in office.

And once again, there are calls to close the oldest prison in Wisconsin.

Hear.

And now, reporter Zach Schultz has the story.

>> We are operating the oldest prison in the state of Wisconsin at a dangerous and reckless manner.

>> Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt did not mince words at a press conference Wednesday, where he released the details from an investigation into the deaths of multiple inmates at the Waupan Correctional Institute.

>> As the sheriff, I am angered at how these men were treated and how they died.

>> There have been four deaths since last June, and while the sheriff expressed concern about the treatment of all four inmates, only two deaths resulted in felony charges.

Two officers and a nurse are charged with abuse of a resident of a penal facility for repeatedly failing to check on an inmate who died of a stroke last October, an inmate's death in February led to seven employees charged for abuse of a resident and misconduct in office, failure to pe rform a known duty in that case, an inmate's water was turned on and off over the course of multiple days, wi th no record staff let the mentally ill inmate know when water was available.

Video evidence shows the gu ards also failed to delivr meals and medication, and then falsified records showing they had checked on the inmate.

>> The cause of death probable dehydration and failure to thrive due to malnutrition.

>> The death was ruled a homicide, but no one will be charged for that.

Instead, the sheriff says the death was a result of a lack of st affing, training and accountability.

That's why ch arged with felony investigators, Warden Hepp said, quote, this is the inevitable outcome of a long term staffing deficit in this type of environment.

This is what you're going to get.

>> We are failure properly failing to properly staff these facilities.

Waupan Correctional ha s over 50% vacancy of staff.

>> Waupan is so understaffed.

In mates have been on a type of lockdown called a modified movement plan for more than a year.

The FBI and the state Department of Corrections both have open investigations into the deaths at Waupan and multiple civil lawsuits have been filed.

Corrections makes up a large portion of the state budget, so it's always been political, and it didn't take long for lawmakers to point fingers.

Republicans blamed the leadership of Governor Tony Evers and promised investigations.

Some Democrats called for Waupan and Green Bay Correctional, the state's second oldest prison, to be closed, while Evers put out a statement promising to release the results of the state internal investigation immediately.

>> Nothing gets fixed because they blame each other and there's plenty of blame to go around.

Waupan.

He says Wisconsin's prisons have been ignored for too long, and after act ten removed union protections, staffing and morale crashed.

>> The last few governors, I don't think, have done much for corrections.

You can go back, Scott Walker never came to Waupan and never visited a prison.

Tony Evers has done that , but I don't think he's taken the bull by the horns and fixed any of these problems.

solution is obvious.

>> My recommendations to the state of Wisconsin.

Are you seriously consider renovating the housing units or closing and replacing Waupan Correctional and Green Bay Correctional?

>> Bishop said he will oppose any effort to close down Waupan Correctional as the state's oldest prison.

It's part of the fabric of the community.

Located just two blocks off Main Street and surrounded on all sides by homes and churches.

>> The problem isn't the building.

The problem is it was understaffed and there's to be fixed.

There's a lot of blame to go around, and I think there's a lot of blame to go