The head of the state agency that’s overseeing construction of the new, but not-yet-opened Iowa state prison in Fort Madison says she doesn’t know when the prison may open. A series of design flaws have delayed the transfer of inmates into the new maximum security facility, which was supposed to open nearly a year ago. A Senate committee quizzed Janet Phipps Burkhead, the director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services, about the project today (Monday) and Senator Tom Courtney, a Democrat from Burlington, says he’s frustrated.

Senator Matt McCoy, a Democrat from Des Moines, says the agency has gotten five-million dollars to manage the prison project and Phipps Burkhead needs to provide some answers.

Phipps Burkhead was also quizzed about the 20-million more a contractor is seeking for work on the project.

And she says her agency is reviewing the contractor’s request. Phipps Burkhead has been leading the Department of Administrative Services on an interim basis since last April. She was appointed to the job after Governor Terry Branstad fired the previous director for lying to legislators about payments to laid off state workers who agreed to keep the details of their exit package secret.