El Dorado Correction Facility in Kanas is currently suffering an uprising, as inmates are refusing to return to their cells reports the Kansas Organization of State Employees Union and KSNTV.
The prison facility has been subject to serious concerns over the past few years, due to issues related to budget. While Kansas Democratic leadership fought for pay raises for state employees, their success is the first pay raise in years for these employees and the ongoing attrition has created a situation of significant understaffing.
www.kwch.com/…
As of Monday, the El Dorado prison houses 1,218 general population inmates, which is nearly 300 over capacity. Despite that, the Kansas Department of Corrections is moving all 150 maximum security mental health inmates Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility (LCMHF) to El Dorado.
The El Dorado prison says it staffs 400 employees, including correctional officers and counselors, and is currently about 90 employees short.
That and other changes has The Kansas organization of state employees, or KOSE union worried.
"We're very concerned about their safety and well being," says KOSE Executive Director Rober Choromanski.
Overcrowding combined with understaffing has created a situation that KOSE has flagged as a concern for years. Today, shortly after voicing significant concerns, the system seems to have run into a snag.
ksn.com/…
EL DORADO, Kan. (KSNW) – The Kansas Department of Corrections said a group of offenders at El Dorado Correctional Facility refused to return to their assigned cell houses Thursday morning.
The department said no incidents of violence have occurred, and there have been no injuries to offenders or staff.
The department said the facility is secure and measures to return the offenders to the cell houses is ongoing.
The Kansas Department of Corrections at this point has lost control of the facility, and while none are injured or worse, the state has been unable to return individuals to their cells.
The facility is already working with guards who may be tired. In order to compensate for the lack of guards plus increased inmates, the state sent out notices informing them that shifts would change from 8 hour to 12 hour shifts to upkeep the facility.
www.kwch.com/...
To help cope with the shortage, the prison will start having guards work 12-hour shifts instead of eight-hour shifts. Another concern for the union.
"Every hour over the eight hours decreases your response time and decreases your ability to be able to anticipate emergencies," Choromanski says.
Secretary of State and candidate for Governor Kris Kobach has called repeatedly for cuts in state funding, saying the state has a spending problem.
Today in El Dorado, we are reminded again of some of the required expenses our state has, and that when we move to cut them, bad things are possible.
Friday, Jun 30, 2017 · 2:04:55 AM +00:00
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Chris Reeves
Update:
The state reports they restored order in the prison, as other guards from other facilities were used in the matter. They noted this is “normal procedure”, but prisoners refusing to return to their cells is certainly not a normal incident.
More details from AP here: http://bit.ly/2smGLIc