TOPEKA - New projections showing fewer inmates entering the state's crowded prisons are giving Kansas officials extra time to figure out how to house prisoners. The prospect of bulging prisons and expensive solutions, however, still haunts corrections officials, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and the Legislature. The latest reprieve is a new law that requires low-level drug offenders to be sentenced to treatment programs rather than to prison. The Kansas Sentencing Commission, which first developed the proposal, estimates that the treatment plan will save about 500 prison beds over the next decade. [continues 547 words]
TOPEKA - A bill that would send some drug offenders into treatment programs instead of prison will not include provisions allowing the early release of some inmates, backers said Thursday. The legislation, proposed by the Kansas Sentencing Commission, is the Legislature's latest attempt to free up space in a prison system that is less than 1 percent from capacity. But sections of the bill that would have meant the early release for some imprisoned offenders triggered opposition. Details of the bill, along with its impact and cost, were outlined at a late-afternoon meeting attended by Republican and Democratic senators and a representative of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. [continues 306 words]
TOPEKA - With Kansas' prison system a breath away from capacity, a Senate committee Monday offered a plan to free cell space by treating drug offenders at home. The measure, which the Judiciary Committee approved, now goes to the Senate floor. Debate is expected later this week. The plan would reduce the demand for prison beds by assigning drug users to community-based treatment programs. Senate President Dave Kerr, a Hutchinson Republican, said the proposal had a chance in the Senate. "If people really look at the facts, we're facing either more prisons or dealing with groups differently," Kerr said. [continues 949 words]
TOPEKA - With the state's prison population threatening to overflow facilities, a proposal surfaced Tuesday that calls for construction of new cell houses at the El Dorado Correctional Facility. Roger Werholtz, who runs the state Department of Corrections, said he was not ready to make specific recommendations for dealing with the exploding population, but expansion of the maximum-security prison "will be part of any discussion involving further capacity requirements." Preliminary plans calls for one or two new cell houses, each capable of housing 128 maximum-security inmates or 256 medium-security inmates. Two medium-security inmates can be housed in a single cell, but only one maximum-security prisoner. [continues 311 words]
TOPEKA -- It takes the Kansas Bureau of Investigation so long to process evidence in meth lab cases that prosecutors sometimes complain that they end up dismissing charges against drug manufacturers. A state audit released Thursday quoted an unidentified law enforcement officer as saying, "Stiffer penalties don't matter if we can't get the lab results we need for convictions." Another said: "KBI lab results take so long that suspects remain at large and keep manufacturing meth and teaching others before they are finally incarcerated." [continues 428 words]
TOPEKA - A coordinated effort to rid a Topeka public housing project of drug dealers resulted in 36 drug-related arrests over the weekend, state and federal law enforcement agencies said Monday. The arrests were part of Operation Safe Home, a 1994 federal initiative designed to bring state and federal agencies together to eliminate drugs, firearms and gangs from public housing. During the 10-month investigation, two undercover agents made 75 narcotics purchases at the Pine Ridge Manor on Topeka's east side. [continues 176 words]
