HCF (previously known as Kansas State Industrial Reformatory) History

Kansas State Industrial Reformatory (KSIR)

In the mid 1880s, the State of Kansas recognized the need for a reformatory in Kansas. Modeled after the nation’s first reformatory established in Elmira, New York, the reformatory concept focused on reforming first-time male offenders between the ages of 16 and 30 through vocational training and academic education. The reformatory system also introduced the concept of indeterminate sentences whereby an offender could be sentenced to a range of years that then could be shortened if the offender exhibited good behavior while in prison.

Work on the Kansas State Industrial Reformatory (KSIR) began in 1885 when then-Governor John Martin authorized the purchase of land to build a reformatory. Following concerns that the state institutions were all located in the eastern part of the state, legislation was passed that new institutions had to be built in the western half of the state, areas west of Highway 81. Several Kansas communities vied for the reformatory including Belleville, McPherson, Newton, Wichita and Hutchinson.

The City of Hutchinson raised $25,000 and a group called the Hutchinson Sewing Circle contributed $1,000 for the purchase of 640 acres of land for the reformatory. The innocuous-sounding group was made up of a group of Hutchinson-area prostitutes who believed that the reformatory was a good concept and that youth should be separated from adults in the prison system.

On July 2, 1885 news reached the City of Hutchinson that it had been selected as the site for the new reformatory. A holiday was declared and the newspaper gives the account that throngs of people crowded Main Street, bells sounded and fireworks were shot off during a celebration that continued into the night.

Initiated with a $60,000 legislative appropriation, construction began on November 19, 1885. However, the project that encompassed building one cellblock that would house 100 men soon became beleaguered with delays that would hamper the project for the next decade. By March of 1887 all appropriated funds had been exhausted though an additional estimated $300,000 was still needed in order to complete the cellblock. At one point, the project came to a standstill for four years when the legislature failed to appropriate additional funds.

In 1894, Governor Merrill promised that if he were elected governor a reformatory would be completed in the next year. Governor Merrill was elected and held true to his promise. In August 1895 a 50-man brick cellhouse was completed and the first 30 inmates were transferred from the Kansas State Penitentiary (now Lansing Correctional Facility) to KSIR. Unfortunately, the first cellhouse was constructed of Hutchinson brick which was made from clay that was dug out of the banks of the Arkansas River. This clay contained so much sand that most buildings built of Hutchinson brick deteriorated rapidly.

The second cellhouse was completed in 1906. Both cellhouses were tied together by the rotunda which at that time was the administration building. By 1898, 185 inmates were housed at the reformatory. From 1895 to 1898, 240 inmates had been received and 270 paroles had been granted.

All inmates at KSIR went to school for two hours every night after a regular 8-hour work day. They also went to school all day on stormy days and on Saturdays. KSIR’s first vocational program was stonecutting. Many of the buildings built in Kansas around the turn of the century were built by men who were ex-inmates who had learned stonecutting at the reformatory.

Also of note in the reformatory’s history:

The reformatory’s name was changed in 1990 when the facility became the Hutchinson Correctional Facility.

Freedom Challenge (affiliated with Teen Challenge International) is a faith-based, life skills program/work detail that addresses a resident’s life-controlling issues by applying biblical principles to their everyday life in order to overcome the  life-controlling issues that lead to their incarceration. The eight-month program contains an aftercare component inside and outside of prison, mentoring and community resources.

The program’s mission is “setting prisoners free;” not from the prison bars they reside in, but from the life-controlling issues that placed them there.

The word Freedom in the program’s names stands for: FACILIATE change by RENEWING the mind, ESTABLISHING life skills and ENCOURAGING hope for a better future while helping individuals to DEVELOP character, OVERCOME adversities and MAINTAIN momentum for life.

Where do I get more information about how to adopt a trained or untrained horse from Kansas Correctional Industries (KCI)?

For more information, please contact:
Kansas Correctional Industries
(620) 625-7515
OR
Bureau of Land Management
(866) 4MUSTANGS

When are horses available for adoption?
Horses are available for adoption through Kansas Correctional Industries Monday through Friday by appointment.

CARES

CENTRAL UNIT:

Canine Assistance Rehabilitation Education Services (CARES) provides residents the opportunity to learn how to train service dogs. Following training, the dogs are then placed with disabled individuals. While providing a valuable service to the community, the residents learn patience, responsibility, leadership skills, social skills and communication skills.

Lucky Dog

EAST UNIT:

Through the Lucky Dog program, dogs receive training from residents who teach the dogs basic obedience commands such as sit, lie down and stay. The dogs are house broken, crate trained and are taught to walk on a leash. This is a second chance for the lucky dogs that would likely otherwise have been euthanized. Begun in 2002 with just one dog, the Lucky Dog Program has since grown to 15 dogs that are trained between 60 to 65 residents. There are at least 4 residents assigned to each dog. A few residents also are trained to serve as extra handlers as needed. All funding for this program is generated through the Friends of Animals in Need, Inc.

For more information about the program or adoption process, click here to e-mail Vicki Hollowell.

A Focus on the Environment

Hutchinson Correctional Facility’s (HCF) recycling efforts have made the correctional facility a leader in implementing innovative environmental initiatives. Since 2010, HCF has diverted more than 1.5 million pounds of solid waste from local landfills. In 2012, the U.S. EPA presented HCF with its WasteWise State Government Partner of the Year Award for its aggressive recycling programs. As the only mattress recycling center in Kansas, the facility has recycled more than 17,000 mattresses, which consisted of 46,000 pounds of foam, 287,000 pounds of steel, 22,000 pounds of wood and 46,000 pounds of cotton. In addition, the facility recycles used resident jeans that are made into quilts and donated to charitable organizations. The residents have made more than 1,085 quilts, which amounts to more than 12,000 pounds of clothing being diverted from a local landfill. Other recycling efforts include the use of recycled ink cartridges, toilet paper and paper towels.

Biography: Dan Schnurr

Warden Dan Schnurr

Dan Schnurr became the warden at Hutchinson Correctional Facility (HCF) on June 18, 2016.

Previously, he had served as warden at Ellsworth Correctional Facility (ECF) since June 2011. Schnurr began his career in corrections at Hutchinson Correctional Facility (HCF) in 1985 as a corrections officer. He rose through the ranks including serving as a corrections specialist, a unit team counselor and a unit team manager. In 2008, Schnurr became HCF’s classification administrator. Two years later, he was named HCF’s business manager for a brief time before accepting the deputy warden position at ECF.

To request assistance from the K-9 Unit, please contact the Deputy Warden of Operations or the Administrative Captain between 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. During all other times, ask for the Shift Captain.

K-9 Unit Overview

Hutchinson Correctional Facility’s K-9 Unit exists not only for escapes and contraband searches within the prison system but is also available to assist police and sheriff departments within a reasonable proximity of the prison.

To properly utilize the K-9 Unit to its full potential, guidelines have been established to help the dogs succeed in their efforts. However because of the number of individuals involved in an initial search, please adhere to the following points from the beginning of the search if the dog team is to be successful:

1. Request assistance as soon as possible.

2. Secure the area from all unnecessary foot or vehicle traffic.

3. Do not handle or disturb potential scent articles.

Click here for the guidelines which will help you better understand what needs to occur before you call a dog team.

For more information, please contact:

Hutchinson Correctional Facility
Attention: K-9 Unit
P.O. 1568
Hutchinson, Kansas 67504-1568

Phone: (620) 662-2321
Fax: (620) 728-3462

To request assistance from the K-9 Unit, please contact the Deputy Warden of Operations or the Administrative Captain between 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. During all other times, ask for the Shift Captain.

What to know before you call a dog team

1. Bloodhounds and handlers are on 24-hour call and will stay with you as long as you need them. All suggestions that would be of help to you or your department in the future use of bloodhounds should be reported to the head trainer. The handlers and their bloodhounds are there to assist you in your hunt in any way they can. They are not there to take over your search, but remember they have considerable training in the field and the handler will know the potential and the limits of his bloodhound.

2. Have a good description of the suspect for the handlers. Give a complete and accurate description of height, weight, build, race, clothes, shoes, coats, hats, if the suspect is armed, the type of weapon, etc.

3. Make sure all officers turn off their vehicles and keep exhaust fumes clear of the area to be searched by the bloodhounds as exhaust fumes can destroy scent.

4. If you are the first officer to arrive on a scene where bloodhounds are to be used, you must protect the scene from any other scent. If the suspect has exited a vehicle, do so with as little contamination to the rest of the area as possible. Do not search the vehicle at this point. There will be plenty of time to do so after the dogs have finished getting a scent from inside the car or truck. Do not let others go near the vehicle or have the vehicle moved until the dog team has finished. The team will use the last scent on the vehicle to “scent the dogs”. Turn off your own vehicle to keep down the exhaust in the area. Strong exhaust fumes will cause a dog not to trail or be unable to pick up the scent. The most important thing for the officer to do at this point is seal off the area and not let others enter and contaminate the search area.

5. The first officer on the search scene needs to keep the area free of any other scents. This means you will have to protect the crime scene from all persons who wish to enter. If you are able to do this, the dogs will have a better chance of following a successful trail. The handler should be the only person allowed into the search area to ensure only the suspect’s trail is present. It is difficult for the bloodhounds to interpret several scents at once; the trail becomes difficult to follow and the dogs may follow the scent of a police officer that was at the scene. The handler will preserve evidence at the scene (prints, etc.)

6. Time is of the utmost importance. You may hear of trails being followed that are 7 to 10 days old. Do not count on this happening. Trails that are several hours old are not much of a problem for a well-trained bloodhound if you have done your part in protecting the crime scene area from contamination. Bloodhounds can follow most trails very easily if the conditions are right.

7. Windy days, freshly plowed fields, barnyards, and heavily traveled roads may give the bloodhound a problem. Have faith in the dog. Even with these problems, the suspect has a starting point and a finishing point – let the dog work.

8. Do not touch any item left at the crime scene. The bloodhound may need it to “scent”. Do not pick up guns, clothes or any abandoned items at this time. To preserve scent, the handler will place a small gauze over a scent article for 15 – 20 minutes to lift the scent. He will then place the gauze with the scent into a sealed baggy. This scent sample will be marked and used for re-scenting the bloodhound on the trail or for a positive identification when the suspect is captured. The handler has had extensive training in preserving crime scenes and will not disturb fingerprints or other evidence. Many crime scene identification problems can be resolved if these instructions are followed.

9. The bloodhound follows scent and not tracks. The tracks do tell the handler this is the correct trail to follow. Casts of the tracks should be taken after the handler has lifted any scent with gauze. Casts of tire marks, etc., should be taken as per any other crime scene search.

10. A bloodhound following scent will often follow a trail over a hundred feet from where the suspect’s tracks were found. You will hear remarks from novice officers and on-lookers about how the dogs are not on the trail because they are not following the suspect’s tracks. Scent is emitted from the entire body, much like mist or smoke. A good example would be to watch a cigarette being smoked and watch the smoke blend into the atmosphere. This is similar to what happens to scent when it comes off your body. The scent will often settle to the ground in pockets, sometimes referred to as “puddle scent.” When a dog comes upon a puddle scent he will show a great deal of interest. Scent settles against trees, fence posts, buildings, low places, etc. It is sometimes necessary for the dog to turn over leaves to locate the scent. Many times the scent will travel some distance from where the subject actually walked. The dog and handler will run side to side, referred to as a “cast”, into the wind in an attempt to pick up scent from the subject. It may be necessary to run several casts, consequently it is important to keep all persons out of the area.

11. Bloodhounds are very gentle dogs and will not bite unless the dog has been trained to do so. We use only purebred, registered bloodhounds who are not vicious. These same dogs are used to track lost children. Some penal institutions do use a hound “cross” which has been trained to attack at the end of the trail; however, we do not. Bloodhounds are silent trailers and will usually bark only on command. If a trail suddenly gets “hot”, the dog may give off a few bays. The officers, handlers, and bloodhound may be right on top of the suspect before he knows he is being trailed.

12. You, as a law enforcement officer, will be required to guard both the handler and the bloodhound from harm. Keep your eyes open and keep up with the team. If you are not in good condition, let another officer, who is, follow the bloodhound team. Stay behind the dog and handler and do not crowd too close. The handler may need to “restart” the dog if he should overrun the trail. Be close enough to protect the team and to return fire if fired upon. Many times, a handler may run several trails from an area to see if there is anything else there. Remember, your job is to protect the dog and handler from harm!

13. The bloodhound must complete each trail he starts. We request that should a fugitive be located in front of the dog, he be kept there until the dog team arrives so the bloodhound can have the feeling of finishing the trail and “winning”, much the same way a police officer who starts a trail of a fugitive likes to be in on the capture. The training of these dogs is a never-ending process and this is an important part of the dog’s training.

14. Family scent is strong and everyone in a family has what is called “family scent”. They all have a somewhat similar smell; however, there is a different smell for everyone too. Jails, hospitals, penal institutions, etc., have what is called “institutional scent”. All of the people there smell somewhat alike. It is important we be able to get the correct scent from the person we are looking for if we are to be of any assistance to you.

15. If you have to get a scent item from someone else, make sure the item belongs to the suspect for whom we are searching. Many times the scent item provided has been contaminated by other members of the suspect’s family or is from the clothes hamper where it is embedded with the scent of other family members. The scent item may be further contaminated by the officer handling it, then placed on the seat of the squad car to be further contaminated. When this happens it is impossible for the bloodhound to isolate the correct scent. Try to select the item yourself and handle it only with a coat hanger. Do not handle this item with your hands, as this will make it difficult for the dog to tell who we are looking for. Place the item in a self-sealing baggy or a plastic trash bag that can be sealed. The bloodhound trails the scent given him and if you have not protected the item, he may follow any one of the scents on the item. It is very important that you have the right scent.

16. Many times while searching for a lost person who has wandered off we find this person has a mental problem. If this is the case, look where he has gone before. Talk to someone who knows this person and get any information you can. Many times a person is found hiding from searches near the place from which he is missing. Look under beds, in closets, attics, out buildings, etc. The subject’s scent will be strong in and around his home.

17. If you request the dog team, it is necessary that you provide specific information to the supervisor on duty who will relay this information to the dog handlers and to the warden for final approval. Once the decision has been made, you will be notified as soon as possible whether the dog team is en route or not able to respond.