Apr 04, 2020

Advocates urge change as virus sickens Kan. jail, prison workers

Posted Apr 04, 2020 12:00 AM
Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter
Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Advocates are urging Kansas officials to release and safeguard inmates after the state prison system reported its first COVID-19 cases in three staff members and at least one jail worker in the state’s largest city was sickened.

At the Sedgwick County Jail, where officials confirmed Thursday that a detention deputy had tested positive, about 200 inmates have been released since mid-March over concerns about the coronavirus. Positive cases statewide rose Thursday nearly 15% in a single day, to 552, with 13 deaths since early March.

Sheriff Jeff Easter said the deputy who tested positive is in isolation at home, and family members are quarantined at home. Coworkers who were around the deputy are still reporting to work. A second employee has also been sent home and will be tested after experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Hospital staff said the deputy was presumptive positive Tuesday night, Easter said.

So far state officials have no plans to release prisoners ahead of scheduled release dates since corrections officials announced Tuesday that three staff members at the Lansing Correctional Facility had tested positive. Gov. Laura Kelly has said her office is “at the exploratory phase.”

Department of Corrections spokeswoman Rebecca Witte said in an email to The Kansas City Star that the agency already has closed facilities to visitors, limited transfers between facilities and added screening processes. Beginning Friday, she said, the office will isolate inmates upon intake at the Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. Older adults and people with existing health problems are among those particularly susceptible to more severe illness, including pneumonia.

Among those urging further changes are the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Kansas Board of Indigents Defense Services, the District of Kansas Federal Public Defenders office and the Midwest Innocence Project.

They are calling in a letter for Kansas to release medically fragile and older adults at high risk for COVID-19 complications, the release of anyone with six months or fewer left on their sentences and the release of anyone imprisoned for technical violations of probation or parole.

This release, the letter said, would make social distancing easier for those remaining in the jail. Additionally, it would protect the estimated 39-43% of inmates who have underlying health conditions.

The letter warned that failure to act would result in “dire” consequences.

“I’m sure the Department of Corrections and the governor are trying really hard, you can see it,” said Kansas Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers Legislative Chair Jennifer Roth. “But you have got to have fewer people.”