History (LCF)
1859	Kansas Legislature passed authorized the construction of the Kansas State Penitentiary (KCP)
1861	On November 18, a tract of 40 acres on Seven Mile Creek was purchased for $600 from Almira Budlong.
1862	John P. Mitchell served as KSP's first warden.
1863	Three directors, William Dunlap, John Wilson and S.S. Ludlum, were appointed to oversee KSP. After touring several prisons in eastern states, the group decided to model the KSP after a prison in Joliet, Illinois.
1864	Construction, accomplished using prison labor, began on the north wing near the site of what was known as the Oklahoma Jail.
1867	Following several delays due to the Civil War, the main building was completed.
1868	With the completion of the north wing, KSP began accepting prisoners in July.
1872	The dining hall was completed.
1875	A guard force of 26 men watched over 379 prisoners including 30 federal inmates. The prison also housed inmates from Oklahoma until 1909.
	Prisoners were governed by what was known as the "silent system," meaning no inmates were allowed to converse with one another under any circumstances.
1881	A need to keep inmates occupied caused the state to sink a coal shaft that would supply KSP and all other state institutions. The need to transport the coal brought in the railroads and soon the area around the prison became a railway crossroads. Houses and businesses were erected giving way for the area to be called the Town of Progress. The prison also began to manufacture twine. The coal mine  and twine operations closed in 1947 due to high operating costs and low demand.
1885	Inmates began work on the prison farm. Aside from raising crops, inmates also oversaw a dairy herd and poultry and hog farm. By 1961, the prison farm covered 2,000 acres. By 1975, farm operations were discontinued but later resumed on a reduced basis.
1896	KSP temporarily stopped admitting prisoners due to widespread alarm over the spread of small pox in Kansas.
1911	KSP opened a "tinker shop" where visitors could purchase craft items including furniture made by inmates. The shop also housed a broom manufacturing operation.
1917	The Kansas Correctional Institute - Lansing for Women (KCIL) was established as a satellite unit of KSP. The name would become the Kansas Correctional Institute at Lansing in 1983.
1985	A medium-security unit was constructed adjacent to the original wall of the maximum-security compound. This complex is now designated as the Central Unit.
1987	The Osawatomie Correctional Facility was established in September as an 80-bed minimum-security facility on the grounds of the Osawatomie State Hospital. This facility would become a a satellite unit of Lansing Correctional Facility in May of 1990.
1988	The minimum- and medium-custody female inmates were transferred from the Kansas Correctional Institute at Lansing to the Topeka Correctional Facility in Topeka. The maximum-custody female inmates would be transferred to Topeka in 1995. The former KCIL site is now designated as the East Unit and is a minimum-custody facility for male inmates.
1990	The administration of KSP and the Kansas Correctional Institute at Lansing  were consolidated to form the Lansing Correctional Facility (LCF).
1991	LCF was awarded accreditation by the American Correctional Association.
1993	LCF became the oldest adult correctional facility to receive a perfect score in an American Correctional Association accreditation audit. LCF also duplicated its perfect score in a 1996 audit.
2009	LCF's satellite unit at Osawatomie was closed.

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What to know before you call a dog team 

• 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. 

• 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.

• 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. 

• 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. 

• 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.) 

• 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.

• 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. 

• 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.  

• 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. 

• 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. 

• 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.  

• 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! 

• 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.

• 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. 

• 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. 

• 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. 

• 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. 
  

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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.

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HCF also houses one of two centers for the KDOC’s transportation system that provides for the movement of residents among the state's correctional facilities.

As with other facilities under the management of the Secretary of Corrections, education, health services and food services are provided through contracts with private vendors.

Because many of HCF's structures were constructed between 1889 and 1912, an emphasis has been placed on rehabilitating and repairing the aging structures.

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• The education program offers a computer-based system that utilizes the “A+dvanced Learning System” for the GED program.
• The curriculum has a literacy component to improve reading and math skills. 
• Special Education is provided for students under the age of 21 and Title 1 services are provided.

Central Unit Education
Vocational programs offered are funded through a CBJT grant with Barton Community College and a cooperative effort with Hutchinson Community College. The programs are offered in HVAC, plumbing, AutoCAD, and manufacturing skills. 

East Unit Education
Vocational programs are offered in home building and construction woodworking.

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