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KDOC Secretary appeared before the Committee, responded to the report, correcting
what he believed to be a misinterpretation of the record, and offered explanation
on corrective measures take in the wake of, specifically, the Topeka incident.
Secretary Werholtz offered his objections and reasoning to LPA about the report
prior to the publication of the report, pursuant to LPA protocol. The report
remained unchanged despite Secretary Werholtz’s objections.
An abstract of the LPA report is available at: http://bit.ly/daSJ1B. The full LPA
Report is available at: http://bit.ly/aGa6gl. The Topeka Capital-Journal follow
up story with Committee information is available here: http://bit.ly/cWUVyu.
A. Ms. Lynn Retz, Legislative Post Audit. Ms. Retz presented the findings of
a Legislative Post Audit (LPA) examination of correctional facilities under the
oversight of the Department of Corrections (KDOC). Retz was the auditor assigned
to the matter.
At both LCF and EDCF, staff failed to follow policies and procedures in place at
the time of those incidents. However, the facilities and the Department of
Corrections have taken steps to reduce the likelihood such incidents will happen
in the future.
At TCF, a variety of reasons made conditions ripe for staff sexual misconduct in
this situation, including a lack of controls over staff and inmate whereabouts.
Data show 197 investigations of facility staff for allegations of sexual
misconduct, undue familiarity and trafficking in contraband at these three
facilities over five years. When LPA compared the three facilities' investigations
into these areas, they found:
· Topeka had significantly more investigations per 100 employees than the
other two facilities;
For those cases that were substantiated, the punishment imposed for Topeka cases
appeared to be more inconsistent and lenient, especially for undue familiarity.
Additional areas of concern include the fact that statutory penalties in Kansas
for staff sexual misconduct aren't as severe as in other states and are even less
severe than those for staff trafficking in contraband. Further, LPA found the
Department lacks sufficient management information to ensure that officials are
aware of the level of staff misconduct.