By JOHN HANNA

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ new prisons chief is suggesting to legislators that the state corrections system is in crisis, and his briefings are leading lawmakers in both parties to conclude that they haven’t previously had a full picture of inmate riots and other problems.

Interim Corrections Secretary Roger Werholtz also said Wednesday that an increased use of “double-bunking,” or housing two inmates to a cell, was a factor in riots in 2017 and 2018. Department of Corrections officials had previously dismissed a potential link.

Werholtz, who served as corrections secretary from December 2002 through 2010, returned to the job earlier this month when Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly took office. Under Republican Govs. Sam Brownback and Jeff Colyer, the department acknowledged staffing problems but then-Secretary Joe Norwood said serious disturbances were unconnected and the inmate population generally was under control.

The new interim secretary took questions Wednesday from the House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee, two days after a grim briefing of the problems facing the department. Werholtz criticized double-bunking and later said that practice and overly aggressive transfers of inmatesamong prisons helped fuel riots at several prisons in 2017 and 2018.

And while the department under Norwood avoided the term, Werholtz did not shrink from using “riots” to describe the disturbances. The department this week provided legislators with photos of damaged prison buildings from riots in El Dorado in June 2017 and July 2018 , Norton in September 2017 and Larned in November 2018 .

Rep. Leo Delperdang, a Wichita Republican, said he was “truly disgusted” by “what we did not hear” previously. House committee Chairman Russ Jennings, a Lakin Republican, said its members felt “shock” after Werholtz’s briefings.

“I think we’re all thankful that we now have a much clearer picture of what’s really going on,” Jennings said later. “The whole story wasn’t told.”

Kelly’s proposed budget for the budget year that begins in July includes an additional $3 million to help prisons fill vacant positions. But the department is still expecting to keep 9 percent of its 3,500 positions open. The department reported that the overtime it paid ballooned from $1.7 million during its 2013 budget year to $8.2 million five years later.

“It had become common practice to do what we called collapsing posts,” Werholtz said Wednesday, relaying what he and other officials heard from staff. “It’s my perception at this point that all of the facilities have been collapsing a lot of posts for a long time.”

Werholtz said transfers of inmates had created concentrations of young, male offenders in some locations to the point where “we may have created a volatile mix unintentionally.” The department had previously acknowledged that some inmates were upset with being moved.

The department will be looking at mixing more of the younger inmates with older ones, Werholtz said, but must consider how quickly it can make such transfers.

As for double-bunking, Werholtz said increasing the concentration of inmates in a prison can create management problems. The department previously had said the practice was not a problem and the most cost-effective way to house a growing inmate population.

Werholtz said the prison system now has less flexibility to reverse double-bunking because the inmate population has continued to grow. As of Tuesday, the department had 10,071 inmates in its custody — 100 more than the system’s housing capacity, even with double-bunking.

“It was refreshing to hear what was actually going on — but also actually terrifying,” said Rep. Annie Kuether, a Topeka Democrat.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on theft and drug allegations.

Just after 10a.m. on Saturday Jan. 19, police responded to the 100 block of north Spruce in Wichita to investigate a stolen vehicle, according to officer Charley Davidson.

Upon arrival, officers located the stolen 2009 Gray Buick Lacrosse occupied by 28-year-old Kyle Guthrie and 25-year-old Chance Brooks. Police arrested them

Guthrie was booked on requested charges of criminal deprivation of property, unlawful possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.   Brooks was booked on requested charges of unlawful possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas collected $49 million less in taxes than expected in January, giving Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and the Republican-controlled Legislature a dose of bad news Friday at the start of debates over education funding and tax relief.

Kelly’s top revenue official and a GOP legislative leader were quick to say a single month of disappointing tax collections is not yet a trend. But it broke a streak of 19 consecutive months of better-than-anticipated collections — the longest since at least July 1966 — leading Kelly to declare extra funds for public schools were “in the bank” as Republicans promoted income tax relief.

Kelly already has urged GOP legislators to wait at least a year to consider tax legislation and said Friday that the state must be cautious. But House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, a conservative Wichita Republican, said the lower-than-expected tax collections raise questions about Kelly’s budget proposals.

The Department of Revenue reported that Kansas collected $646 million in taxes last month, when its fiscal forecast predicted more than $695 million, for a 7.1 percent shortfall. The state’s tax collections for the current budget year, which began in July 2018, had been running slightly ahead of expectations, but at $4 billion, are now $36 million or 0.9 percent less than forecast.

“Unfortunately, Kansas is still in a perfect storm of uncertainty and volatility,” said interim Revenue Secretary Mark Beshears.

The department did not have an explanation for the monthly shortfall beyond economic volatility. The biggest gap was in personal income tax collections. They were $352 million — $48 million less than expected for the month and nearly $99 million below collections in January 2018.

The department’s report came with the Senate planning to debate a tax bill next week. It is designed to prevent Kansas residents and businesses from paying more in income taxesto the state because of changes in federal tax laws at the end of 2017.

It would reduce state revenues — and save taxpayers — $192 million during the next budget year, which begins July 1.

Kelly won the governor’s race by running against former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s fiscal policies. Brownback championed big state income tax cuts in 2012 and 2013, only to see lawmakers largely reversed his cuts in 2017 because of persistent budget woes.

“We must be cautious, conservative and fiscally responsible to ensure our state’s recovery continues,” Kelly said in a statement. “We cannot go backward.”

Kelly was not backing off her plan to phase in a $364 million increase in spending on public schools over four years in hopes of settling an education funding lawsuit filed in 2010.

Projections from legislative researchers this week already showed that the state could not provide the GOP’s promised tax relief and Kelly’s proposed education funding increase without creating at least a small budget shortfall before July 2022. Continued monthly shortfalls would make the budget gap larger and possibly cause it to appear sooner.

Top Republicans argue that passing a tax relief bill is a matter of fairness and that doing nothing is raising taxes, with Hawkins saying Friday, “It’s really the people’s money.”

“It would be very good for her to use caution,” Hawkins said of Kelly. “Maybe she needs to go back and look at her budget a little bit.”

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is appealing a judge’s ruling that allows telemedicine abortions in the state even though legislators have enacted three laws against them within eight years.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt filed the appeal Friday with the Kansas Court of Appeals.

Schmidt hopes to overturn a Dec. 31 decision by Shawnee County District Judge Franklin Theis in a lawsuit filed by a Wichita clinic’s operators. Since October, clinic doctors have conferred with some patients through teleconferences when providing pregnancy-ending drugs.

Theis ruled that a 2018 law banning telemedicine abortions has no legal force because it contained no way to punish violators.

The judge also ruled that 2011 and 2015 laws are on hold indefinitely because they’re covered by an injunction in a separate lawsuit challenging abortion regulations that is still pending.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree plans to seek the death penalty against a man charged with killing two sheriff’s deputies.

Dupree said Friday during a hearing for 30-year-old Antoine Fielder that he will pursue the death penalty.

Fielder is charged with capital murder in the deaths of Wyandotte County sheriff’s deputies Patrick Rohrer and Theresa King.

They were killed last June while they were transporting Fielder and another prisoner between the jail and a court hearing. Fielder allegedly disarmed them but details of the incident have not been released.

Fielder also was injured during the confrontation.

A judge on Friday ordered that Fiedler be taken to Larned State hospital for a mental evaluation. Court proceedings will be stayed until the evaluation is complete.

SHPTV

BUNKER HILL – Smoky Hills Public Television’s local program, The Kansas Legislature, will be hosted by Larry Dreiling, senior field editor for High Plains Journal. Our guests will be State Representatives Susan Concannon (R-Beloit) of the 107th District, Barb Wasinger (R-Hays) of the 111th District, and Brad Ralph (R-Dodge City)  of the 119th District, and Senator Rick Billinger (R-Goodland) of the 40th District.

Tune in Fri., Feb. 1 at 7 p.m., and call in with your legislative questions.

The show airs during the legislative session, which gives the legislators and viewers the opportunity to discuss up-to-date issues. During the program, viewers can call 800.337.4788 with their legislative questions.

The Kansas Legislature will air on Fridays at 7 p.m. To find a list of legislators that might be on the show each week, go to www.shptv.org where you will find the 2019 season schedule.

By CORINNE BOYER
Kansas News Service

Saleh Mohammed fled his native Myanmar in 2015.

“Too much fighting over there,” he said.

As a member of the Rohingya ethnic minority, he was in particular peril. His life was in danger.

He settled in Garden City. Now 24, he may gain citizenship in a year. That, in turn, will put him in a position to bring over his family and free those loved ones from a refugee camp in Bangladesh.

To navigate life in western Kansas — he’s a meat carver in a Tyson packing plant — he’s relied on aid groups in the region. Those organizations have put him on a path to citizenship and to bringing over his relatives.

But that safety net for refugees is experiencing its own transition. The International Rescue Committee had been the lead agency helping refugees in southwest Kansas until the flood of refugees became a trickle.

The IRC closed its Garden City office last year and consolidated operations in Wichita. Now Catholic Charities helps Mohamed and the dwindling number of refugees in the area like him.

On average, the IRC agency resettled 50 to 100 refugees a year in Garden City and other U.S. cities.

“In 2016 and 2017, we were very busy out there,” said IRC Kansas Executive Director Michele Green said. “There (were) still hundreds of refugees moving to the area.”

But in late July 2018, IRC closed its office in southwest Kansas. That came after the U.S. State Department announced the year before that it would no longer support offices servicing fewer than 100 people per year.

Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas had been taking on part of the IRC caseload. Now Catholic Charities is the only agency that resettles refugees in Southwest Kansas. It works with Live Well Finney County to help new immigrants, using a small apartment that serves as both a community center and a classroom.

Debbie Snapp, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas, said as soon as the nonprofit receives a new refugee case, it starts working with people with ties to the newcomer — a brother, aunt, cousin.

“Most cases we have are family reunification,” she said. “So it’s a family member that they are coming to be with that is sponsoring them.”

Before a new refugee arrives in Kansas, the agency works with the refugee’s U.S. tie to find housing. Within the first 90 days, Catholic Charities assists with paperwork, health exams and job placement.

At the end of that time, “they are secure in their house, job and have all the documents they need so they can work more towards being independent,” Snapp said.

Kansas resettlements declined before the State Department began letting fewer refugees into the country. In 2016, then-Gov. Sam Brownback removed the state from the U.S. refugee program.

Snapp said that decision “changed how the state provided services to refugees.” There was no longer a state office that dealt with, for instance, cash assistance and medical assistance.

Since taking on resettlement work, Catholic Charities has worked with between 35 to 40 immigrants.

After the Brownback decision, the Trump administration issued policies shutting out more refugees. Last year, the U.S. Department of State issued a new refugee resettlement number — capping the total at 30,000 for the year, down from 45,000 in 2017.

Lona DuVall, president of the Finney County Economic Development Corp, said in an email that unlike many rural communities, the county is growing.

“Refugees and immigrants have been a tremendous asset as our economy has grown,” DuVall said.

Despite the decrease of refugees, Snapp says Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas plans to continue its resettlement work.

Corinne Boyer is a reporter based in Garden City for the Kansas News Service. Follow her @Corinne_Boyer.

RILEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a case of theft and have a suspect in custody.

On Thursday, police arrested Russell Allen Jr, 37, Manhattan, for theft in connection with an incident that occurred in the 2500 block of Candlecrest Drive in Manhattan on Wednesday, according to the RCPD activity report.

Allen is also accused of violating the offender registration act. Allen remains in custody on $200,000.00 bond, according to police.

 

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A teen who became the first patient at a Kansas City hospital to walk while on life support has recently returned home.

Zei was the first Children’s Mercy patient to walk while on ECMO life support. This week she walked out of the front doors of the hospital after more than 450 days, just in time to be home for her birthday. Read more about her powerful journey back home.

Zei Uwadia left Children’s Mercy Hospital on Thursday after being hospitalized for more than a year for unexplained lung failure. Zei will continue to recover at home in Wichita, Kansas.

The now 17-year-old inspired hundreds of thousands of people who watched videos of her walking down the hospital’s halls while on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), an invasive form of life support.

Doctors still don’t know what caused Zei’s lungs to fail, but she’s no longer on ECMO and instead uses a tracheostomy, a tube in her neck that helps her breathe.

Zei says she’s looking forward to having more freedom.

FINNEY COUNTY— One person died in an accident just after 7a.m. Friday in Finney County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Toyota Tundra driven by Mark Todd Goodwin, 55, Garden City, was southbound on Old U.S. 83 four miles south of Business 83.

The driver realized he was in the wrong lane. The vehicle traveled to the right, tipped onto the driver’s and rolled.

Goodwin was pronounced dead at the scene. The KHP did not have details on his seatbelt usage.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A 26-year-old Kansas woman accused of leaving her two toddlers in a car while she was in a bar pleaded with a judge to not take her children away from her while acknowledging that she made a mistake.

Tiara Dillon of Lawrence was charged Thursday with two felony counts of aggravated child endangerment and a misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle under the influence.

Judge James George ordered Dillon to have no contact with her children, who are 2 and 3.

Before judge George issued the no-contact order Dillon repeatedly asked him not to take her children and said she never meant to hurt her children.

Dillon was arrested early Wednesday after allegedly leaving her two children unattended in a vehicle at the Playerz Sports Bar in Lawrence bar on a dangerously cold night.