TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Gov. Laura Kelly plans to propose creating a treatment center at Kansas’ largest prison for inmates with substance abuse problems.
Kelly said she plans to recommend adding a treatment center at the state prison in Lansing in the Kansas City area, The Kansas City Star reports. Her proposal mirrors a recommendation from the Kansas Criminal Justice Reform Commission to use space in an existing prison for a 240-bed substance abuse treatment center.
The governor said Wednesday in an interview that inmates could be sentenced to the new center for intensive treatment, rather than being housed in other prison space.
“If they get anything when they’re in the other places it’s really a miracle,” she said.
Kelly’s office did not provide more details about her proposal.
The state Department of Corrections this spring moved all of the inmates in the Lansing prison to new buildings on its campus, which still includes buildings dating from the 1860s. The prison has space for more than 2,400 inmates but was housing fewer than 1,800 as of Wednesday.
Kansas House corrections committee Chairman Russ Jennings said a treatment center would be important for helping ensure that inmates can successfully reenter society at the end of their sentences.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.