DES MOINES , IOWA (AP) -- Iowa's prison population is set to explode in the next decade.

According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, a forecast by Department of Human Right's says Iowa's prison population will top 11,000 by 2021.

The Iowa Department of Corrections says that even with new facilities, like the new maximum secuirty prison in Fort Madison - the system will be short 3500 beds at the end of the decade.

That is not welcome news for the state's prison employees.

In early november, staff members at the Mt. Pleasant Corrections Facility held a press conference to protest the lack of funding.

A union rep told KTVO at that time, staff were already suffering unecessary assaults due to lack of guards.

Even before today's report was released, prison employees were begging the governor for additional funding.

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