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Hutchinson Correctional Facility
Hutchinson, Kansas
Aramark
December 9, 2006 Hutchinson News
A former Aramark Services employee who worked inside the Hutchinson
Correctional Facility was sentenced to one year, three months in prison Friday
for trying to bring methamphetamine inside the prison. Joseph L. Delancy of
South Hutchinson pleaded guilty to trafficking in contraband in a correctional
facility, possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell and unlawfully
arranging a drug sale by a commercial device. He faced up to four years, 11
months in prison. Delancy's attorney, Kerry Granger, asked for a lesser sentence
and cited his client's drug use starting as "a misguided attempt to deal with
the death of his son."
June 24, 2006 Hutchinson News
Drug detectives arrested a South Hutchinson man employed in the Hutchinson
Correctional Facility dining hall for allegedly purchasing drugs he planned to
sell to prison inmates. Joseph Lamont Delancy, 33, worked for Aramark Services,
which provides food service for part of the prison. According to police reports,
Delancy made phone contact with a drug enforcement detective about buying an
ounce of "Ice" methamphetamine. The detective set up the drop, and Delancy
allegedly arrived and accepted the drugs from the detective. The report
indicates Delancy said he planned to sell the drugs in the correctional
institute and attempted to set up another buy with the detective. Delancy is
being held on $25,000 bond on suspicion for possession of meth with the intent
to sell, a drug tax stamp violation and unlawfully arranging a sale by a
commercial service.
Johnson County Jail
Johnson County, Kansas
CCA
June 6, 2007 KC Community News
Legal hurdles and Johnson County Sheriff Frank Denning's opposition surfaced in
a Johnson County Commission discussion May 31 of private jails. Denning said he
opposed private jails on principle. “I am opposed to any private organization
imprisoning people,” Denning said. “I believe the best institutions are ones
with government oversight and government transparency.” Denning also said a
state statute prohibits him from using private jails for state inmates. The
statute would have to be amended to allow him to house inmates in a private
jail, he said. Commissioner John Segale disputed the sheriff's opinion. County
Chief Counsel Don Jarrett said the county could contract with a private jail.
“The county has the authority to contract or use jail space in public and
private facilities,” Jarrett said. “The sheriff does not have to agree to the
contract. The sheriff is in charge of designating where prisoners go. So you can
buy space, but if the sheriff doesn't choose to put people in that space, you're
going to have empty spaces.” The discussion followed a pitch by Corrections
Corp. of America, Nashville, Tenn., one of the country's biggest private
jailers, for county business. The county paid about $6 million in 2006 to farm
out more than 300 inmates daily to county jails as far away as Ottawa. The
Gardner jail's 416-bed expansion is expected to be full upon opening in late
2009. Commissioner Ed Peterson said he invited CCA so commissioners could learn
what a private jail offered. Ray Hodge, CCA senior director of business
development, told commissioners of plans to expand the company's maximum
security 802-bed Leavenworth Detention Center by another 320 beds. CCA
anticipates more beds would be required in the next few years and plans to build
another jail in Leavenworth County, Hodge said. If CCA secured sufficient
contracts from customers, including Johnson County, the company would expedite
construction of the jail. Federal, state and county governments have contracts
with CCA's 64 accredited jails, Hodge said. The company has a 52 percent share
of the national private jail market, he said. Contract renewal rates are 95
percent. Hodge listed benefits for the county from using CCA: capital meant for
jail construction could be freed up for other needs; first rights to beds;
inmate consolidation in one nearby jail, making access easier for families;
transportation cost savings; and insulation from lawsuits. Hodge said costs
would depend on services. The U.S. Marshals Service, which uses the Leavenworth
jail, pays CCA $81 per day per inmate. That fee includes services the county
would not require, Hodge said, bringing costs closer to $50 per inmate per day.
Denning said he expects research on his business plan, which he intends to
submit to commissioners in six months, will show that he can run a jail cheaper
than private jail companies. Frank Smith, of nonprofit research company Private
Corrections Institute, said private jails keep costs down by paying employees
low wages and benefits and providing little training. Smith, who drove more than
200 miles to speak to commissioners, said problems plague the private jail
industry, including low professionalism, high employee turnover and the practice
of mixing inmates from different states, leading to tension and riots in several
jails. Smith said his information came from publicly available reports, visits
to private jails and “a vast network” of whistleblowers. Most commissioners
favored studying private jails as an alternative to building more jails. “An
individual may have different feelings about the question of public or private
(jail) facilities … but all of us need to keep in mind the bottom line, which is
the taxpayer's pocket,” Commissioner Ed Eilert said. “Our objective should be to
provide the most efficient, appropriate incarceration services at the most
effective price. If that involves … changing an attitude, we need to do that,”
Eilert said. “If this is in fact an economical way of providing equal services
and coverage for our inmates, we owe it to our taxpayers to take a hard look,”
Peterson said. “I think they make a persuasive case as to how a private entity
can operate a prison for less than government can and be just as accountable,”
Segale said. Chairwoman Annabeth Surbaugh said the county should wait for the
sheriff's plan before considering private jails.
May 30, 2007 Kansas City Star
Searching for a way to ease jail crowding and save money, Johnson County
commissioners are considering striking a deal with a private, for-profit
corrections facility in Leavenworth. Officials with Corrections Corp. of
America, one of the nation’s largest private penal firms, will meet with
commissioners today to consider how the two could work together to meet the
county’s growing need for jail space. Sheriff Frank Denning says the problem has
been ignored for nearly a decade, but opposes the idea of private jails. In
2005, a consultant’s report showed that a proposed 416-bed jail expansion would
be full immediately if it opened in 2009 and an additional 752 beds were
recommended to be opened a year later, said Joe Waters, the county’s director of
facilities. “Somewhere this is going to overtake us where we’re doing nothing
more than running jails,” Commissioner Doug Wood of Olathe said. “We’ve got to
get a handle on this.” Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corp. wants to expand
its operation on the western bluff of the Missouri River to build more beds for
federal prisoners. That would open space at the 802-bed Leavenworth Detention
Center, a maximum-security facility that the firm wants to expand to 1,122 beds
for offenders from across the region and beyond. For Johnson County, that could
forestall the costly construction and operating expenses of new county jails.
Supporters say it also could free up county money for such other needs as a
juvenile detention center, courthouse or even the research triangle proposed by
area universities. Supporters of for-profit jails say the private sector can do
the job more efficiently and save taxpayers up to half the cost of inmate
boarding. Critics contend bottom-line law enforcement is a risk to public safety
that is not worth taking. It is an idea that has been kicked around for decades
in Johnson County with four sheriffs and has gone nowhere. “We’re not here to
grow the sheriff’s office, but I’m trying to blow this myth that somebody else
can do this a whole lot cheaper than we can,” Denning recently told
commissioners. Denning said the county’s two detention centers were safe, secure
and cost-effective. The last escape was 24 years ago, and the last inmate killed
in custody was 29 years ago. Most county commissioners, however, were
unconvinced that the sheriff had explored all his options to building more jails
or backed up his plan with hard numbers. “I don’t think the public is willing to
pay the price,” Commissioner Ed Peterson said. “We’ve got to find some other
options.” Private jails are not the answer, Denning said. “There aren’t very
many success stories out there,” he told commissioners. “And there should not be
any profit in people.” Denning said that some private jails have staffing ratios
of one jailer for every 35 inmates. In Johnson County, the ratio is closer to
one deputy for every six inmates. “We know what we’re doing,” Denning said. Ken
Kopczynski of Private Corrections Institute Inc., a nonprofit group that opposes
private prisons, said for-profit firms are notoriously understaffed and have
turnover rates as high as 50 percent. Deputies in Johnson County have a 6
percent turnover rate. “You get what you pay for,” Kopczynski said. Sheriff’s
spokesman Tom Erickson was more blunt. For-profit jailers are salesmen, he said.
“They’re going to tell you whatever … you want to hear to get you to purchase
their product, which is bed space. “They can promise you everything in the world
… but we have enough documentation to prove that they are a really bad idea.”
Not so fast, said Ray Hodge, Corrections Corp.’s senior director of business
development. “What we’re offering is a chance for the county to consolidate its
farmed-out prisoners in an accredited facility … at a fairly reasonable price,
certainly far cheaper than the county can do it,” Hodge said.
Kansas Department of Corrections
November 27, 2001
Citing a temporary shortage of prison beds, the Kansas Department of Corrections
said Tuesday that it will send 100 inmates to a privately run institution in
Colorado where they will remain until spring. The agreement with
Corrections Corp. of America marks the first time that Kansas has sought
facilities in other states to house some of its prisoners. Federal money
can be used to pay 90 percent of the contract costs with the private firm.
That money cannot be used to pay for space in public facilities such as county
jails. (The Kansas City Star)
Kansas Legislature
September 12, 2006 Kansas City Star
If Phill Kline had legitimate credentials, he wouldn’t need to pad his
résumé. He alleges he “worked to get ‘Jessica’s Law’ passed this year,
increasing sentences for four types of sex crimes against children” (9/7, Local,
“Kline cites record on water rights, sex predators”). Jessica’s Law was a
terrible bill, but one that only our bravest state senators had the guts to
oppose. Whether Kline was for, against or indifferent to it would not have made
one whit of difference. Legislators were stampeded into voting for it, as they
would be for mom, apple pie and the American flag. The bill will raise our state
prison population by 1,000 prisoners, which will cost well over the average of
$22,000 for each in today’s correctional dollars. That’s 22 million bucks a
year, for typical prisoners, not high-cost, geriatric sex offenders, plus
another $50 million for bed space to house them. The bill was bundled by Sen.
Derek Schmidt, champion of the for-profit prison GEO Group, in his effort to
actually import rapists, pedophiles and murderers to Kansas. Not much to take
credit for, is it, even if it were deserved? Frank Smith, Bluff City, Kan.
May 8, 2006 AP
Legislation imposing tougher penalties on child molesters and other sex
offenders went Monday night to the governor's desk. Passage of the bill, dubbed
"Jessica's Law," was part of a deal worked out by House and Senate negotiators
last week, after the House rejected a compromise bill bundling the popular sex
offender measure with legislation the Senate wanted to allow private prisons in
Kansas. The Senate voted 36-2 for the sex offender bill with no debate, and the
House followed with a vote of 122-0, after which members applauded. Sending
Jessica's Law to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius hinged on a deal negotiators worked out
Friday. It called for a House vote on prisons, followed by the Senate passing
Jessica's Law. The House voted 74-48 against the bill allowing the Department of
Corrections to license and regulate such facilities in counties where voters
approve the idea. It also included $20.5 million in bonding authority to expand
state prisons. "I feel like this is a positive victory in that we got Jessica's
Law separate from an unpopular bill," said Rep. Jan Pauls, D-Hutchinson. Pauls
later thanked colleagues who "hung in there" until Jessica's Law was separated
from private prisons. "A lot of people were terrified that we might not get this
bill passed," she said, referring to Jessica's Law. Some House members didn't
like the idea of obligating the state to paying off bonds. "We could pay cash
for this and save ourselves a substantial amount of interest," said Rep. Virgil
Peck, R-Tyro. "I don't support additional debt for our state." Kansas law
prohibits housing state prisoners in private facilities in the state, but they
can be housed in private facilities in other states. Senators had argued for
bundling the bills, because increased penalties for sex offenders would generate
the need for an additional 1,000 prison beds by 2016. House Speaker Doug Mays,
R-Topeka, said the message was clear. "A lot of people feel strongly that the
management and ownership of prisons is a government function," he said.
May 5, 2006 AP
Efforts to force a single vote on tougher penalties
for child molesters and other sex offenders and allowing private prisons failed,
and lawmakers now will vote each issue separately, under an agreement worked out
Friday night by House and Senate negotiators. "It's agreed to," said House
Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka. "I'm happy the Senate decided to do it that way."
Mays said both bills will come up for a vote Monday, when lawmakers return with
an eye toward wrapping up the session. On Wednesday, the House strongly rejected
a compromise bill bundling the popular sex offender measure dubbed "Jessica's
Law" with legislation the Senate wanted to allow private prisons in Kansas.
May 3, 2006 AP
Opposition to private prisons in the House today doomed a compromise version
of a politically popular bill to strengthen penalties for sex offenders,
especially those who prey on children. The tougher penalties, known as
"Jessica's Law,” were tied by House and Senate negotiators to a proposal to
permit private prisons in Kansas to hold the state's inmates. Senators
previously approved a separate private prisons bill and insisted the two issues
be bundled, while the House hadn't debated the subject. The House voted 74-49 to
reject the bundle, forcing both chambers to resume negotiations if lawmakers are
to send tougher penalties for sex offenders this year to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
The Senate had approved it Tuesday, 33-7. Rep. Kenny Wilk, who led the effort to
send the bill back to negotiators, said senators were trying to overcome
opposition to private prisons by linking their fate to perhaps the session's
most popular proposal. "They're trying to force-feed us,” said Wilk, R-Lansing.
"The House wants a clean vote on Jessica's Law.” The tougher sanctions are
patterned after a Florida law, also named "Jessica's Law,” for a 9-year-old girl
in that state killed last year by a convicted sex offender. Arkansas, Oregon and
Virginia enacted their own versions this year. The bill calls for a minimum
25-year sentence for adults convicted of any of seven violent sex crimes against
anyone under 14, including rape, aggravated sodomy and sexual exploitation.
Trial judges could impose a lesser penalty in cases with "substantial and
compelling” reasons.
May 2, 2006 AP
Getting tough on child molesters and other sex offenders has been a priority for
legislators since the start of the session, and now they're in position to send
a bill to the governor to do just that. But there could be a problem - another
bill hitched to the sex offender legislation. A House-Senate conference
committee bundled the crime bill with another allowing private prisons in the
state to hold Kansas inmates. The Senate voted 33-7 Tuesday to send the bill to
the House, which last year refused to debate private prisons. Because it's a
House-Senate conference committee proposal, House members must either accept or
reject both ideas. "We'll run it. There's no way to tell whether it will pass,"
said Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka. Some see it as a power play by senators. "It
doesn't play well with me. It's not a game," said Rep. Shari Weber, R-Herington.
"Children abused and exploited shouldn't be held hostage by the personal views
of the leadership of the Senate chamber. The Senate debate focused on opposition
to private prisons. "There are two policies in this bill. The right way is to
separate them," said Sen. Jay Scott Emler, R-Lindsborg.
May 1, 2006 Lawrence Journal-World
For-profit prisons aren’t likely to pop up across the Kansas plains
overnight if, as expected, the Legislature approves a law this week allowing the
prisons to be built here. In fact, the law wouldn’t necessarily mean that
private prisons would ever be used to house existing Kansas prisoners. But it
would allow for the industry to set up shop and begin housing out-of-state
prisoners in any Kansas county where voters approve the idea. In Frank Smith’s
view, it’s a slippery slope. Smith, a critic of private prisons who lives in
Bluff City, believes that Kansas is “buying a lemon” by opening the door to a
business he claims is fundamentally flawed. “I don’t believe you can have an
efficacious private prison because the profit motive rules everything,” he said.
“I don’t think there are any legitimate protections in this bill. They can build
anywhere they can convince the locals — the rubes and hicks — that it’s not such
a bad thing.” Smith, a retired social worker, argues that private prisons are
chronically understaffed and don’t pay enough to keep good employees. He said
there’s no hard evidence that there are more disturbances inside private
prisons, but that the mingling of out-of-state inmate populations — who often
have unequal treatment because of differences in their states’ respective
contracts — is an inherent problem. On July 20, 2004, inmates at the privately
run Crowley County Correctional Facility near Pueblo, Colo., demanded to speak
to a warden about grievances. One problem was that a group of recently imported
inmates from Washington state were earning $60 a month for work assignments,
compared with $18.60 for Colorado inmates. The inmates were denied an audience,
and they grew hostile. The staff was inexperienced and had not had enough
training for an emergency, according to a report by the Colorado Department of
Corrections. So the staff evacuated. Inmates started fires, broke into the
management offices, and broke water pipes, sinks and toilets, causing cells to
flood with contaminated water. A pending lawsuit filed by inmates alleges that
when a special-operations team came in with backup to reclaim the prison, guards
brutalized inmates — forcing them to lie face-down in contaminated water and
dragging people from their cells by their ankles. As the night went on, inmates
were forced to urinate and defecate in their pants because they weren’t allowed
to go to the restroom, the suit alleges.
April 29, 2006 Hutchinson News
Thanks to distortion of our legislative procedures, a bill clearly against
the interests of public safety and protection of Kansas taxpayers may soon win
passage. Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence, has inserted
special interest, for-profit prison language into a veto-proof sexual offender
bill. For three years, Schmidt's bills were unable to win passage on their own
merits. Were it not for the valiant efforts of Rep. Jan Pauls, D-Hutchinson, and
the misgivings about the process held by Rep. Mike O'Neal, R-Hutchinson, this
bill would likely have made it to the governor's desk. At a time when the
attention of the public has been focused on deal-making in Washington , D.C., by
exposure of scandals such as the crimes of Jack Abramoff and ex-Rep. Randy
"Duke" Cunningham, as well as the budget earmarks that led to the $230 million
"Bridge to Nowhere," this legislative bundling tactic is particularly brazen.
The bill's existing provisions don't truly protect Kansas. Instead it encourages
wholesale importation and private transport of out-of-state robbers, rapists,
and murderers. Annual surveys show for-profits have 30 to 45 times more escapes
than public facilities. Closed facilities, frequently shuttered following rapes
and grotesque maltreatment by staff, litter the national landscape. Imported
convicts regularly riot in a half dozen states. Poorly paid workers often flee,
leaving state employees to suppress disturbances. For-profit staff turnover
averages more than three times that of public prisons. Although the Kansas
measure has a provision allowing a state takeover of failed private pens, the
bill does not adequately address "real world" problems. It is difficult to
imagine how a private operator would provide adequate insurance for its
operations. Examples of potential exposure include situations like the murder of
a Montana prisoner by Hawaiian convicts at the BRG prison in Texas. Hawaiians
twice torched that facility. The Kansas Department of Corrections already has
difficulty filling employee vacancies. The notion that it could immediately
provide hundreds of trained officers and support staff to operate a remote
for-profit where workers had resigned en masse or went on strike is simply
ludicrous. The department lacks the authority to incarcerate other states'
prisoners, but a private pen in Kansas would house many hundreds of such
convicts. For-profit salesmen testifying before legislative committees claimed
staff from other states could fill in, but they often are already unable to meet
contractual staffing level requirements in those distant locations. After summer
2004 riots by out-of-state prisoners at the Corrections Corporation of America
facilities at Crowley, Colo., and Beattyville, Ky., scores of employees
immediately quit their jobs. Hutchinson already has experienced some perils of
privatization, witness the jailing of former Reno County Sheriff Larry Leslie
for accepting $284,000 in payments from a private firm that used to operate a
jail annex. Kansas would be wise to heed the call for a moratorium on
construction of these "Rent-a-pens" by denominations ranging from Catholic,
Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian and the United Church of Christ. Frank Smith,
Bluff City
April 23, 2006
Topeka Capital-Journal
A bill clearly against the interests of public safety
and protection of Kansas taxpayers may soon win passage. Senate Majority Leader
Derek Schmidt has inserted special interest, for-profit prison language into a
veto-proof sexual offender bill, HB2576. For years, Schmidt's similar bills were
unable to win passage on their own merits. The bill is presently in conference
committee to be considered when legislators return from adjournment. This
legislative "bundling" tactic is particularly brazen. Through dozens of
substantial contributions from the for-profit GEO Group and its lobbyists,
Schmidt and his colleagues have been amply rewarded for ignoring the public
interest. The bill encourages wholesale importation and private transport of
out-of-state robbers, rapists, and murderers. Annual surveys show for-profits
have 30-45 times more escapes than public facilities. Imported convicts
regularly riot in a half dozen states. Poorly paid workers often flee, leaving
distant state employees to suppress disturbances. The Kansas's Department of
Corrections already has substantial difficulty recruiting employees. At year's
end, 121 uniformed positions were vacant. It couldn't immediately provide
hundreds of trained officers and support staff at a remote for-profit where
workers struck or resigned en masse. For-profit salesmen testified that staff
from faraway states could fill in, but they often are already unable to meet
their own contractual staffing requirements. After 2004 riots by out-of-state
prisoners at facilities in Colorado and Kentucky, scores of low-paid employees
immediately quit their jobs. Kansas would be wise to heed the call for a
moratorium on construction or outright abolition of these "Rent-a-pens" by
denominations including Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian and the
United Church of Christ. FRANK SMITH, Private Corrections Institute, Bluff City
April 19, 2006 Chanute Tribune
Op-Ed By: Frank Smith Private Corrections Institute. Thanks to distortion of
our legislative procedures a bill clearly against the interests of public safety
and protection of Kansas taxpayers may soon win passage. Senate Majority Leader
Derek Schmidt from Independence has inserted special interest, for-profit prison
language into a veto-proof sexual offender bill, HB2576. For three years,
Schmidt's similar bills were unable to win passage on their own merits. The bill
is presently in conference committee and will be considered when the Legislature
returns from adjournment. At a time when the attention of the public has been
focused on deal-making in Washington by the exposure of scandals such as the
crimes of Jack Abramoff and ex-Representative "Duke" Cunningham, as well as the
budget "earmarks" that led to passage of the $230 million Alaska "Bridge to
Nowhere," this legislative "bundling" tactic is particularly brazen. Through
dozens of substantial contributions from the for-profit GEO Group and its
lobbyists, Schmidt's colleagues and leadership committees have been amply
rewarded for ignoring the public interest. Woodson County and Yates Center were
led to believe a private prison would provide an economic boon. Quite the
opposite is the case. Peer reviewed national studies from six universities, in
Washington, Ohio, Iowa, North Carolina and Kentucky and research from a D.C.
think tank indicate that even public prisons, where staff are often paid twice
as much as in the privates, don't help the economy. Communities within a 50-mile
radius of Yates Center lack the available workforce to staff such a facility.
Guards would require clean criminal and domestic violence records, a GED or high
school diploma, and need to be young enough to physically handle the extremely
stressful and dangerous shift-work environment. The for-profits endure a 52
percent annual staff turnover, more than thrice that of better-paying public
facilities. Guard make $8 hourly, or less commonly, work two jobs depriving them
of the alertness necessary to protect themselves and other staff, inmates and
the public alike. For-profits regularly contest assessments and overcharge
taxpayers for millions of dollars. 79 percent of Corrections Corporation of
American and 69 percent of GEO's facilities have received tax abatement and
infrastructure incentives leaving municipalities with little to show for their
investments. If GEO somehow actually decided to build in Woodson, it expects
free land with utilities already in place. The bill's existing provisions don't
truly protect Kansas. Instead it encourages wholesale importation and private
transport of out-of-state robbers, rapists, and murderers. Annual surveys show
for-profits have 30-45 times more escapes than public facilities. Closed
facilities, frequently shuttered following rapes and grotesque maltreatment by
poorly screened staff, litter the national landscape. Imported convicts
regularly riot in a half dozen states. Poorly paid workers often flee, leaving
distant state employees to suppress disturbances. Although the measure has a
provision allowing a Kansas state takeover of failed private pens, the bill does
not adequately address "real world" problems. For instance, it's difficult to
imagine how a GEO could provide adequate insurance for its operations. Examples
of potential exposure include situations like the murder of a Montana prisoner
by Hawaiian convicts at BRG's Texas prison. Hawaiians twice torched that
facility. The Kansas Department of Corrections already has substantial
difficulty filling employee vacancies. The notion that it could immediately
provide hundreds of trained officers and support staff to operate a remote
for-profit where workers had resigned en masse or went on strike is simply
ludicrous. The Department lacks the authority to incarcerate other states'
prisoners, but a private pen in Kansas would house many hundreds of such
convicts. For-profit salesmen testifying before legislative committees claimed
staff from other states could fill in, but they often are already unable to meet
contractual staffing level requirements in those distant locations. After summer
2004 riots by out-of-state prisoners at the Corrections Corporation of America
facilities at Crowley, Colorado and Beattyville, Kentucky, scores of low-paid
employees immediately quit their jobs. Kansas has already experienced some
perils of privatization; witness the imprisonment of Reno County Sheriff Larry
Leslie for accepting and laundering $284,000 in bribes for privatizing his jail.
Kansas would be wise to heed the call for a moratorium on construction or
outright abolition of these "Rent-a-pens" by denominations ranging from
Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian and the United Church of Christ.
*** Frank Smith has been a researcher and provider in criminal justice and
corrections for 35 years and is considered to be a leading expert on for-profit
prisons. He resides in Bluff City.
April 19, 2006 Trading Markets
In Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ budget amendments, offered Tuesday, she is
seeking authorization for $20.5 million in bonds to build prison space to
incarcerate the anticipated increase in inmates from legislation that increases
punishments of sex offenders. On prisons, the proposal for bonding authority to
expand El Dorado prison could clash with a move to build a private prison.
Corrections Secretary Roger Werholtz opposes private prisons, but declined to
say whether the bonding proposal would knock out private prison legislation.
“We’re putting forward the options that we prefer, to at least handle the
initial expansion,” Werholtz said.
April 16, 2006 AP
When legislation runs into a roadblock, lawmakers often get around the obstacle
with the time-tested tactic of bundling bills. A bill on death’s doorstep gets
attached to a popular bill — and if there’s motherhood, apple pie and a touch of
divinity in the mix, so much the better. Last year, senators passed a bill
allowing private prisons in Kansas and waited for the House to act. But the idea
is about as popular with many House members as coddling sex offenders. This
year, lawmakers have the mother of motherhood bills — getting tough on sex
offenders, particularly those victimizing children. It’s just the kind of thing
House members can go home and crow about while seeking re-election. The two
chambers passed differing versions of what’s been dubbed “Jessica’s Law,” and
House and Senate negotiators worked out the differences. But they also bundled
it with the private prison bill so lawmakers must consider both ideas together
when they return April 26 to wrap up their session.
April 10, 2006 Lawrence Journal-World
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said she’s willing to accept private prisons to get a
bill that increases penalties for sex offenders. “There are a lot of protections
in place,” Sebelius said of the measure that would authorize the state to enter
into a contract for a private prison. The prison proposal is contained in a bill
that would increase prison sentences for sex offenders. While there is nearly
unanimous support in the Legislature for the sex offender portion of the bill,
there is less support for changing policy to allow private prisons. The
provision would give the corrections secretary authority over the construction,
licensing and oversight of a private prison. In addition, under the measure, no
private prison could be operated in a county without approval of the county
commissioners and a vote of county residents. But Frank Smith of Bluff City, an
outspoken critic of private prisons, said the private prison industry has been
plagued with problems such as prison riots, low wages for employees and
substandard conditions for inmates. “Other states have had terrible experiences
with legislation such as this, which when passed seemed to provide certain
guarantees,” Smith said.
March 24, 2006 Wichita Eagle
With an appalling display of lobbyist strength, special interest legislation
meant to solely enrich the out-of-state for-profit prison industry was recently
forced through a Kansas House committee. Then Wednesday, a bill authorizing
privately owned and operated prisons cleared the full Senate. The ostensible
rationale for bringing nonliving wages to Kansas corrections is alleged taxpayer
savings. But repeated legitimate research fails to demonstrate any such thrift.
And there's no guarantee the proposed private prisons would ever hold a single
Kansas inmate. For-profit operator GEO Group enlisted economically depressed
Woodson County in eastern Kansas to strengthen its ploy to enable proliferation
of its "Rent-a-Pens." Studies conducted by professors from five universities and
an independent think tank, however, conclusively demonstrate that even public
prisons, where wages are sometimes twice as high, do not improve faltering rural
economies. Prisons dissuade safer and better-paying industries from locating in
host counties. No economic feasibility assessment has ever been done in Woodson
County, which simply couldn't recruit sufficient low-paid employees. A survey
comparing similar-sized populations of a public prison system with national
for-profits indicated the privates had 30 times as many escapes. Liability
damage language has rarely protected any hosting state. And might for-profits
bring corruption? Prosecutors accused former Reno County Sheriff Larry Leslie of
taking $284,000 to privatize his jail. To test the efficacy of the services
provided, look no further than the GEO Group's Jena, La., prison and the Cornell
Companies' New Morgan Academy in Morgantown, Pa. Both have been closed for years
after horrendous abuse of scores of juveniles. Management and Training Corp.
closed its prison in Eagle Mountain, Calif., after rioting and murders. I've
visited Corrections Corporation of America prisons in Kentucky, Colorado and
Arizona following such riots. It took law enforcement from four states to quell
the previous riot at the Crowley County, Colo., prison. After extensive study,
numerous denominations -- including Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal
and the Church of Christ -- condemned this industry. Kansas would do well to
heed their call. Frank Smith lives in Bluff City.
Labette Correctional Conservation Camp
Labette County, Kansas
GRW
February 27, 2007 Parsons Sun
Some employees of the Labette Correctional Conservation Camp women's
facility lost vacation time when the facility was transferred to county
management on Feb. 1, but county commissioners say it isn't their fault. On
Monday, commissioners met with LCCC administrators to discuss the situation.
County Commissioner Jerry Carson said the situations at the men's and women's
camps are different because the county has never operated the women's camp
directly. Labette County created the boot-camp style facility in the early '90s
and has held responsibility for operating it. The camp has always been operated
by a private management firm until now, however. The women's camp was created by
the Kansas Department of Corrections a few years later. KDOC hired the same
company to operate the facility and the two have operated in concert. However,
Carson said the differences translate into employees at the women's camp losing
leave time. Carson pointed the finger at GRW Corp., the Tennessee-based
management firm that ran the facilities. Carson said he thought there was a
"gentleman's agreement" with GRW to honor the vacation time. Carson said he
would be willing to meet with camp employees and explain the situation to them.
Commissioner Lonie Addis agreed with that assessment of the situation but said
he didn't like it. "The simple fact is it's still not fair," Addis said.
Commissioners also discussed setting up times to meet with camp employees to
discuss the county's personnel policy. The county has revised the policy in
order to include camp employees.
Leavenworth Prison
Leavenworth, Kansas
CCA
April 27, 2007 Leavenworth Times
A man has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison after he orchestrated
drug deals while an inmate at a Leavenworth detention facility, according to a
news release from the U.S. attorney’s office. Francisco Ortiz, 22, Kansas City,
Kan., was sentenced Wednesday for using his 16-year-old sister and other family
members to deal drugs for him while he was awaiting sentencing in a federal drug
trafficking case. Ortiz allegedly orchestrated deals by telephone while an
inmate at the Corrections Corporation of America Leavenworth Detention Center.
In March 2005, Ortiz had entered into a plea agreement to one count of
possession with intent to distribute more than five grams of methamphetamine.
The agreement required him to cooperate with investigators from the Drug
Enforcement Administration. “What the defendant did not tell the DEA was that he
was trafficking in drugs while he was incarcerated at the Corrections
Corporation of America by using his 16-year-old sister,” Eric Melgren, U.S.
attorney for Kansas, said in the release. “Nor did he tell DEA agents that he
was orchestrating drug deals, obtaining profits and directing customers to meet
with family members to make drug payments — all while incarcerated on the
original charges.” Investigators retrieved the records of Ortiz’s telephone
calls from CCA for April 2006 through July 2006. The records showed he had been
engaging in multiple drug transactions through associates and family members who
were not incarcerated, including his sister and his mother.
August 24, 2006 AP
A southern Iowa man has been convicted by a federal jury on charges he
threatened the life of a federal judge. Christopher O. Myers, 41, of Ottumwa
faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Sentencing was scheduled for
Sept. 5. Myers was initially charged in a three-count federal indictment, which
alleged that he mailed threatening letters to Judge Linda Reade and a federal
public defender in August 2005 from his prison cell at a federal prison in
Leavenworth, Kan. Reade, a judge in the U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids,
testified Monday that she took the threats seriously. "I think the general tenor
of the letter suggested that Mr. Myers was threatening to kill me," she said.
Court documents said Myers was in the Corrections Corporation of America
Leavenworth Detention Center, a privately run prison, which contracts with the
federal government located in Leavenworth, Kan., when a white business-sized
envelope was mailed to U.S. District Court in Des Moines addressed to Linda
Reede, a misspelling of the judge's name.
August 21, 2006 AP
Federal Judge Linda Reade testified today that a southern Iowa man sent her a
threatening letter shortly after she sentenced him to federal prison for
threatening other judges and President Bush. "I think the general tenor of the
letter suggested that Mr. Myers was threatening to kill me," Reade said on the
witness stand in the trial of Christopher O. Myers. Myers, 41, of Ottumwa is
charged in a three-count federal indictment, which alleges that Myers mailed
threatening letters in August 2005 from his prison cell at the federal prison in
Leavenworth, Kan. Court documents said Myers was in the Corrections Corporation
of America Leavenworth Detention Center, a privately run prison, which contracts
with the federal government located in Leavenworth, Kan., when a white
business-sized envelope was mailed to U.S. District Court in Des Moines
addressed to Linda Reede, a misspelling of the judge's name. Court documents say
the return address included the name Chris Myers, a federal inmate number —
11921-030 — and the address of the CCA detention center in Leavenworth, Kan. The
envelope contained eight pages that appeared to be two threatening letters and
cover letter.
November 25, 2005 Leavenworth Times
A former Leavenworth man has been sentenced to life in federal prison for the
murder of three Leavenworth people. A federal jury spared Demetrius R. Hargrove,
31, of the death penalty on Tuesday in Kansas City, Kan., according to a news
release from the U.S. attorney's office. Hargrove, who already is serving a
35-year federal prison sentence for kidnapping and a weapons violation, was
found guilty Nov. 10 of three capital murder counts and one charge of conspiracy
to kill a federal witness. The conviction came after a six-week trial. Two of
the murder counts stem from the shooting deaths of Elmer Berg Jr. and Misty
Castor, Leavenworth siblings. The third murder count stemmed from the July 25,
1998, death of Tyrone Richards. According to the news release from the U.S.
attorney's office, Hargrove attempted to murder Kimbrel on Jan. 3, 1999. And on
Dec. 31, 1998 and Jan. 1, 1999, Hargrove made telephone calls to other
conspirators from the Corrections Corporation of America detention facility in
Leavenworth to arrange the murder of Kimbrel.
April 12, 2005 Kansas City Star
Attorneys for federal kidnapping defendant Lisa Montgomery asked a judge Monday
not to give prosecutors copies of four documents seized recently from her
Leavenworth jail cell. Jailers searched her cell and took five documents last
month. Officials at the Corrections Corporation of America jail then passed the
material to the U.S. Marshals Service, which gave it to Chief Magistrate Judge
John Maughmer. In a court filing, defense
attorney Susan Hunt argued for withholding the records from prosecutors.
“(Montgomery) asserts the documents must be returned to her, all copies
destroyed and not provided to the government,” Hunt wrote. Hunt's motion
contends that prosecutors have agreed that the letter to “Anita” should not
be disclosed to federal authorities because it is addressed to Anita Burns, an
assistant federal public defender, and thus covered by the attorney-client
privilege. Montgomery's attorneys also contend that the
Feb. 20 document should be covered by the attorney-client privilege. “This
document was prepared by (Montgomery) pursuant to a request of Ron Ninemire, one
of the (defense) investigators on this case,” Hunt wrote. “Mr. Ninemire, in
one of his visits, requested (Montgomery) write down certain information for use
by him and the attorneys in preparing this case.” The documents apparently
turned up in a March 4 search.
September 27, 2002
Keith Gabriel was intially incarcerated at the federal penitentiary in
Leavenworth, Kan., where he was diagnosed as being HIV-positive. The
Federal Bureau of Prisons began immediately to provide Gabriel with medical
treatment. In 1988, he was transferred to another federal penitentiary.
His medical jacket was transferred with him and he continued to receive
appropriate treatment for his HIV condition. In 1990, he was transferred
to a penitentiary run by the District of Columbia in Lorton. That facility
was operated by CCA under contract with that district. When Gabriel was
transferred to Lorton, his medical jacket was not transferred with him.
The medical history that was sent did not explicitly state that he was
HIV-positive. After he was moved to Lorton, Gabriel said he did not
receive any further medical treatment until his HIV status was
"rediscovered" in 1998. He alleged that as a result of his
failure to receive treatment, he suffered a decline in his T-cell count.
He also experienced the onset of premature dementia and depression. He
also contended that when CCA and the District were alerted to his HIV status,
both failed to search for and obtain his medical jacket. He also said CCA
provided him with an improperly low dosage of one of the drugs he needed.
Gabriel filed suit against the Bureau of Prisons and CCA for negligence and
medical malpractice. The U.S. District Court, District of Columbia agreed
with the bureau that BOP was not a state official acting under color of state
law. The CCA then asked for dismissal, saying it was not a proper
defendant because it wasn't a public entity. The company said it
could not be held accountable in the same manner as a governmental organization.
The CCA also said Gabriel had not filed his claim within the required two years.
August 14, 2000
A guard pleaded guilty to drug charges after he was caught delivering a half
once of crack cocaine to an undercover officer. The guard admitted to
smuggling contraband into the prison for inmates. (AP, August 14, 2000)
Prison
Health Services
Shawnee County, Kansas
Prison Health Sservices
September 20, 2002 Shawnee County corrections director Betsy Gillespie said
Thursday she was confident that jail medical and correctional staff members
didn't make any errors causing the death of an inmate earlier this month. Roy
Hardy III died Sept. 2 in the jail's custody. His family claims Hardy, who had a
congenital heart defect, died because medical staff failed to provide him with
his medication. Hardy-Smith declined to say whether the family plans a wrongful
death suit against the jail, but any lawsuit likely would include Prison Health
Services Inc., a Tennessee-based company specializing in correctional health
care. The county entered a contract with the company in November 2001. The
contract states PHS will cover court costs if inmates sue the county and the
jail on health care issues. An almost complete turnover of medical staff ensued
March 1, when PHS took over medical services. Only one nurse who previously
worked for the county health agency remained. Daily dose Topekan Allen Stann was
jailed for two days earlier this month for a traffic violation. Stann knew he
had to do his time, but said he was upset because he didn't receive his
medication, Celebrex, twice a day for arthritis. "It was like cruel and
unusual punishment," he said. Stann did get Ibuprofen his first full
morning at the jail and until his release. He said he went to the jail the week
before serving his sentence to learn if he had to do anything to ensure he
received his medication. "I even went in early the morning I checked in to
make sure about it," he said. After his release, Stann said, he called the
jail because he was concerned about other inmates. "I told them while I was
in a lot of pain, it didn't kill me. But I said to them 'what if I had a serious
illness and didn't get my medication. I could have died.' I said that to them
and then found out about Mr. Hardy," he said. (Topeka Capitol Journal)
Reno
County Jail Annex
Reno, Kansas
MgtGp Inc.
January 8, 2004
Former Reno County Sheriff Larry Leslie and Hutchinson attorney Gerald Hertach
won't pay $750,000 in restitution sought by the state, a senior judge ruled
Tuesday morning. Instead, the case will be closed when the two have served
their one-year jail sentences that end in January - Leslie on Saturday from the
Saline County Jail and Hertach on Jan. 31 from the Rice County Jail.
(Hutch News)
September 17, 2003
With prospects for a negotiated settlement dimming, a senior judge set a trial
date for Reno County's civil lawsuit against the former private operators of its
jail annex. Judge Michael Barbara set Oct. 29 as the start date in Reno
County District Court for the county's bid to recover almost $750,000 in annex
operations profits from MgtGp Inc., which operated the center for four years.
Former Reno County Sheriff Larry Leslie and Hutchinson attorney Gerald Hertach
were partners in MgtGp. That alliance landed the two men in jail for a
year on two counts of misdemeanor conflict of interest, for failing to disclose
the contract. Both men apparently are going to serve their one-year terms
without offering a court-ordered plan to repay the county, a condition of
parole. In August, attorneys for the two men and Reno County said they
were close to a negotiated settlement in the case. Barbara gave the two
sides 10 days to reach an agreement, a time frame that more than passed before
the judge took action late last week. Stan Hill, Reno County's counsel for
the civil suit, offered no comment on the trial date Monday. Efforts
Monday to contact Leslie's attorney, Mike Gillespie, and Hertach's attorney,
Steve Joseph, were unsuccessful. Gillespie is handling the case from his
new job with a Manhattan law firm, Seaton, Bell and Seaton. Leslie and
Hertach formed the partnership in 1997 to operate MgtGp and the annex. The
two men established dummy corporations in Nevada to route the annex profits back
to their personal corporations in Kansas. Leslie and Hertach were
convicted in October 2002 of two counts of misdemeanor conflict of interest, the
result of a plea bargain from 21 original counts of bribery. Leslie's
sentence expires Jan. 3, 2004; Hertach's 28 days later. (The Hutchinson
News)
January 10, 2003
Former Reno County
Sheriff Larry Leslie spent his first day as an
inmate Friday, beginning his jail sentence for misdemeanor conflict of
interest in the county jail annex scandal.
Leslie and his business partner, Hutchinson attorney Gerald Hertach, were
convicted in October of misdemeanor conflict of interest.
The two men formed MgtGp Inc., a private company that ran the jail annex
until late last year. Leslie, as an elected official, was required by Kansas law
to divulge his "substantial interest" in MgtGp to Reno County
commissioners. (The Hutchinson News)
December 20, 2002
It came down to that old line from the film "Jerry Maguire."
"Show me the money." So when Larry Leslie and Gerald Hertach
wouldn't - or couldn't - the result was a year in jail for their illegal
partnership as MgtGp Inc., running Reno County's jail annex. The people
wanting to see where Hertach and Leslie's share off about 570,000 in annex
profits went were numerous. And the two who mattered the most - Senior
Judge Michael Barbara and prosecutor John Bork - didn't get any answers
Wednesday in Reno County District Court. "I wouldn't said it played
the main role in my decision, but it played a role, of course," said
Barbara, who sentenced the two men to jail terms for conflict of interest in the
annex case. "The 285,000 your client received from the annex profits
- what happened to that?" Barbara asked Steve Joseph, representing Hertach.
"I don't know, your honor," Joseph replied. Both times the men
and their attorneys offered no direct explanation, instead raising general
claims of financial ruin. "Jerry doesn't have $750,000 or significant
funds at all," his attorney said. Gillespie had little to say
Wednesday about Leslie's future, only noting that the former sheriff is close to
bankruptcy. Leslie isn't paying three creditors he owes a total of
$46,000, the attorney said, and had $300 in monthly disposable income after he
pays the rest. Leslie will voluntarily surrender his law enforcement
certification, Gillespie said. And a case against Hertach's law license
will be revived by the state's legal review board in Topeka, Joseph said, now
that sentencing has been completed. (The Hutchinson News)
December 19, 2002
In a prepared statement, Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall on Wednesday
defended her decision to accept a plea bargain in the Larry Leslie-Gerald
Hertach bribery case. In the statement, issued by prosecutor John Bork,
one of Stovall's assistants, the AG said the state's decision to accept two
misdemeanor conflict-of-interest convictions "serves the interest of
justice by ensuring a conviction and establishing restitution for the unlawful
acts perpetrated by the defendants.... Stovall said the presumptive
sentences in the original bribery cases filed against Leslie and Hertach would
have been probation. However, Senior Judge Michael Barbara, angered by the
lack of a clear plan to repay $750,000 in annex profits to Reno County,
sentenced the two men Wednesday to a year in jail on each of the
conflict-of-interest counts. The plea bargain came under local criticism
as a slap on the two men's wrists. District Attorney Keith Schroeder,
whose office played a role in uncovering the allegations, said he will refuse to
refer cases to Stovall's office as a result of the light deal. (The
Hutchinson News)
December 19, 2002
Larry Leslie and Gerald Hetach will begin the new year in jail, a senior judge
ruled in Reno County District Court Wednesday afternoon. How long they
have to stay depends on whether they can come up with their share of an
estimated $750,000 in restitution to Reno county, money "cheated" from
local taxpayers in the private and illegal operation of the county's jail annex,
Judge Michael Barbara ruled. Leslie, 59, the former Reno County sheriff,
and Hertach, 56, a Hutchinson attorney, were sentenced to a year in jail
Wednesday - six months consecutively on each of two misdemeanor
conflict-of-interest counts. Both men were moved out of Reno County for
security concerns, Barbara said. The charges grew out of the two men's
partnership in MgtGp Inc., a private firm that in 1997 obtained a contract to
manage the jail annex - without divulging to the Reno county Commission that
Leslie, then sheriff, was involved. A clearly angry Barbara rejected pleas
from the defense for probation in both cases, instead taking issue with the two
men's refusal to provide plans to repay almost $750,000 in profits from the
annex operation. A year owed to the people of Reno County, Barbara said as
he handed down the sentence. "Counsel wondered today what good it
would do to send these men to jail," the judge said. "Well, a
viable objective in the sentencing process is viable deterrents.
"Counsel has agreed that deceit was involved in this case - political not
criminal. But pure, deliberate greed was involved." (The
Hutchinson News)
November 27, 2002
By signing off at the last minute on a plea bargain agreement in the Reno County
Jail Annex case, Attorney General Carla Stovall agreed Oct. 7 to toss out 21
felony bribery charges against three criminal defendants accused of bilking
taxpayers out of $570,000. Instead of putting the facts before a jury, the lame
duck attorney general accepted guilty pleas to two misdemeanors apiece and
endorsed potentially meaningless promises of restitution from former Sheriff
Larry Leslie, Hutchinson attorney Gerald Hertach and MgtGp Inc. The outrageous
decision not only deepened this newspaper's disappointment with Stovall's job
performance as attorney general, it also set three dreary precedents that could
have undesirable long-term consequences on public policy in the Sunflower State.
Different laws The Stovall-approved plea agreement shows that county sheriffs in
Kansas, particularly those who have friends in high places, have the latitude to
operate under a different set of laws than other public officials. KBI Director
Larry Welch received documents tying Leslie to the illegal payment scheme in the
summer of 1999. Yet Welch disgraced his position by failing to initiate an
investigation of Leslie, a long-time friend, until prompted a second time - 18
months, 19 payments and $140,250 later – by outgoing Reno County District
Attorney Tim Chambers. The U.S. Attorney's Office of Kansas took a similar
hands-off attitude toward an FBI investigation. Coincidentally, Welch's son,
Lanny, worked there during that time as the office's top criminal prosecutor.
Chilling effect. Most of all, Stovall's decision to cut a deal with defendants
Leslie-Hertach-MgtGp Inc. will have a chilling effect on government
whistleblowers in Kansas. Consider that employees at the Reno County Sheriff's
Department expressed the greatest frustration with the plea bargain. Several
employees uncovered the scheme and tried to prompt an outside investigation.
"I don't think he got near what he deserved," said Sherri Owston, the
sheriff's office manager. Former Sheriff Leslie directed Owston to help him
prepare invoices to bill Hertach for supposed jail consulting services.
(Hutchinson News)
October 18, 2002
Four years of memories came flooding back this week in the Reno County Sheriff's
Department. Secretaries to deputies were stopped cold with disbelief when
former Sheriff Larry Leslie pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of misdemeanor
conflict of interest for collecting $285,000 from a partnership operating the
county's jail annex. Leslie had been charged with 21 counts of bribery.
Leslie and Hutchinson attorney Gerald Hertach, partners in MgtGp Inc., each face
up to a year plus restitution and fines up to $820,000 for their role in the
partnership. "It's kind of made everyone relive the whole
thing," Sheriff Randy Henderson said. "Kind of back to the old
thing that we can do something wrong and get by with it because of who we are.
The frustration with plea bargain, which likely will bring little or no jail
time, was expressed by a couple of players in the Leslie story. "I
don't think he got near what he deserved," said Sherri Owston, the
sheriff's office manager. Owston was directed by Leslie to help him
prepare invoices that were used to bill Hertach for almost $285,000 over the
three years of their annex partnership. "I was not at all happy about
their decision to plead it down to a misdemeanor," said Howard Shipley, a
detective who made the first late-night foray into Leslie's office to copy
documents about the partnership. "I think the original charge of
bribery could have been proven. We should have gone to court and let the
jury make a decision on that." "I am somewhat discouraged that
the case did not go to trial in order for the whole truth to come out,"
said Capt. Dennis Radke, who heads the detective bureau. There's also a
consensus that Leslie let his officers and employees down by taking part in the
partnership. (The Hutchinson News)
October 18, 2002
The business partners in a controversial deal to operate Reno County's jail
annex entered guilty pleas Monday to misdemeanor conflict of interest charges.
The pleas by former Reno County Sheriff Larry Leslie, Hutchinson attorney Gerald
Hertach and the attorney's MgtGp Inc. short-circuited Monday's anticipated start
of their trials on 21 bribery counts. The plea deal also includes a
"joint or separate" agreement to pay Reno County $750,000 in
restitution. The conviction falls under Kansas statue 75-4304 (b), which
prohibits entering into any contract "where any local government officer or
employee, acting in that capacity, is a signatory to or a participant in the
making of the contract and is employed by or has a substantial interest in the
person or business." (Hutch News.com)
July 2, 2002
The bribery trial for former Sheriff Larry Leslie and his alleged business
partners will remain in Reno County District Court, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Leslie, Hertach and MgtGp each face 21 counts of bribery. The charges
allege that Hertach paid Leslie almost $285,000 over three years in exchange for
Leslie's recommendation that MgtGp run the county's jail annex. (The
Hutchinson News)
June 03, 2001
Reno County commissioners filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Sheriff Larry Leslie
and the private firm hired to run the county jail annex, seeking repayment of
more than $500,000 in profits they claim the two have split since 1998.
Commissioners also asked a judge to terminate the county's four-year, $2 million
contract with MgtGp Inc., signed in January 2000. Leslie is charged with
accepting more than $280,000 in bribes from MgtGp Inc. secretary Gerald Hertach
in exchange for persuading commissioners to hire the company. Hertach is
also named in the lawsuit. Leslie had an obligation to disclose any
business relationship between himself and MtgGp Inc. when he recommended the
contract, County Counselor Joe O'Sullivan said Wednesday. "The
defendant's silence when they had the duty to speak constituted a fraud upon the
plaintiffs," the suit alleges. Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall
contends that Leslie accepted payments ranging from $4,000 to $15,625 between
June 1998 and January 2001. The county's suit claims the alleged payments
were routed through a series of Kansas and Nevada corporations, each of which is
either owned or operated by Hertach or Leslie. The lawsuit alleges that
Leslie and Hertach "negotiated and agreed to a proposal whereby Hertach
would present, and Leslie would recommend, a management agreement to the
plaintiff for the minimum security facility." (The Wichita Eagle)
May 19, 2001
Fellow law officers and a county commissioner said Tuesday they are shocked that
Reno County Sheriff Larry Leslie has been implicated in a bribery scheme that
authorities say involves more than $280,000. Leslie, who was elected
sheriff in 1992, was arrested Monday and charged with 34 counts of bribery.
He's accused of accepting $284,875 from a Hutchinson lawyer and, in return,
influencing county commissioners to hire MgtGp Inc., the private company that
handles the daily operations of the annex, authorities said. Commissioner
Francis "Shep" Schoepf said Leslie advised the commission in 1998 that
entering into an agreement with MgtGp Inc. would save money. The
alternative was to hire more county employees to run the new annex, he said.
The county in January awarded MgtGp Inc. a new four-year contract worth $612,000
this year alone, according to the county. Schoepf said he "completely
trusted" Leslie's judgement. "It seemed like he was giving us
good advice," Schoepf said. "When I heard about the charges, I
was absolutely floored. I have had so much faith in that guy."
According to court records, Leslie is accused of accepting $284,875 in 34
payments from June 1998 to last January. The largest payment -- $15,625 --
was allegedly made on July 15, 1999, court records show. (The Wichita
Eagle)
May 17, 2001
The private company at the center of the bribery case against Reno County
Sheriff Larry Leslie was incorporated just 13 days before the county awarded it
a contract worth more than $1.5 million to run a jail annex in 1997, according
to state records. But county officials said Wednesday they weren't
concerned with the newness of the company because Leslie vouched for one of its
owners, who had experience running a dormitory for nonviolent offenders.
Leslie, 57, pleaded innocent to 34 counts of bribery at his first appearance
before a district judge Wednesday. Hutchinson lawyer Gerald Hertach,
treasurer and co-founder of MgtGp Inc., which operates the annex, also pleaded
innocent to charges that he bribed the sheriff. The company also is named
as a defendant. Leslie is accused of accepting more than $280,000 from
Hertach from June 1998 to last January. Leslie, who is still on the job,
earns $59,672 a year as sheriff. It's also a unique relationship, said
Darrell Wilson, executive director of the Kansas Association of Sheriffs.
He knows of no other county in the state that contracts with a private company
to run part of its jail. MgtGp Inc. is still operating the annex, County
Administrator Ed Williams said.
Wyandotte County
Jail
Wyandotte, Kansas
Aramark
August 28, 2004
The Wyandotte County sheriff closed the county jail's kitchen for 24 hours after
an inspection revealed sanitary and storage problems. Joe Connor, county
health director, said the problems were discovered Thursday in an annual
inspection of the juvenile detention center. Part of that inspection was the
food service area, which also serves adult inmates. Brad Ratliff, a
spokesman for the sheriff, said the health violations included the buildup of
grease and the improper storage of items in the kitchen, which serves about 450
inmates. The department has a three-year contract with Aramark Inc. to
operate the kitchen. The company, which is paid about $669,000 annually, is
responsible for the cleaning. (Kansas City)
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