public

Speakers Bureau

cherylca — 2019-05-22T14:45:00Z

A Speakers Bureau is being established to enhance public education regarding what we do in Kansas Corrections. As you are probably aware, many people have beliefs or ideas about what happens in corrections, both in the field and in facilities. In fact, very few outside of those of us employed within the correctional field and our families, really understand how risk reduction and containment strategies are chosen and used and for whom. You have been selected or suggested as a person who can speak to your area of work within the Department and how it is a part of the strategy to make a positive difference in making Kansas a safer place to live and work.

The goals of this effort are broad based and important. We need to reach out at all levels of our communities and educational institutions to educate and to recruit. Our efforts should help more taxpayers better understand what we do and why we do it, as well as how our efforts on their behalf impact them every day, every hour. The plan is to provide a list of speakers, skilled in their work and selected by their leaders and peers, to educational institutions from high schools to colleges and universities. At some point, we may also provide such contact information to community organizations, though many of you and your leaders already are a part of or have spoken to community organizations. Thank you if you are one of those persons who has already done so!

This is an important task: If you feel you are uncomfortable or unable to speak to a group contacting you, please ask your supervisor to get someone else equally skilled and willing to share similar information regarding what was originally requested. Our hope is that we are open to questions and seeking answers from the appropriate source (check with the Central Office Communications Office if you are unsure). The Department of Corrections publishes an annual report, and we do reports on population daily that are available to you as well.

The key to this task is your rapport with the group you speak to about why and how you and your peers work hard to reduce risk to Kansans in many ways, all designed using evidence-based research and clearly targeting the offender based on their assessed risks and needs to provide the correct dosage and response. When we get a broad array of speakers and subjects needing to be covered, we will share the information with you and with the educational institutions. If you feel other agencies or organizations need to be included, or additional subjects need to be added, please let the Central Office Communications Office know. Our hope is this may educate and entice more persons to working or volunteering to join us in the good work being done. Thanks so much for being willing to provide time and effort to carry on the mission of the Kansas Department of Corrections.

For more information, please call Hope.Burns@ks.gov or (785) 296-3310

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Shaw obit

KDOC News — 2013-03-05T22:55:00Z

Shannon Meyer

cherylca — 2013-06-06T19:43:45Z

Community Corrections Director

Sex Offender Supervision Handbook

cherylca — 2013-06-21T14:45:00Z

This handbook is to be considered a resource book for individualized supervision of sex offenders.

Sex Offender Housing Restrictions

cherylca — 2013-06-21T14:50:00Z

Housing restrictions appear to be based largely on three myths that are repeatedly propagated by the media: 1) all sex offenders reoffend; 2) treatment does not work; and 3) the concept of “stranger danger.” Research does not support these myths, but there is research to suggest that such policies may ultimately be counterproductive. Sex offender residence restrictions. A Report to the Florida Legislature, October 2005, Jill S. Levinson, Ph.D.
Research shows that there is no correlation between residency restrictions and reducing sex offenses against children or improving the safety of children. Iowa County Attorneys Association
The resulting damage to the reliability of the sex offender registry does not serve the interests of public safety. Iowa County Attorneys Association
There is no demonstrated protective effect of the residency requirement that justifies the huge draining of scarce law enforcement resources in the effort to enforce the restriction. Iowa County Attorneys Association
Many prosecutors have observed that the numerous negative consequences of the lifetime residency restriction has caused a reduction in the number of confessions made by offenders in cases where defendants usually confess after disclosure of the offense by the child. In addition, there are more refusals by defendants charged with sex offenses to enter plea agreements. Plea agreements are necessary in many cases involving child victims in order to protect the children from trauma of the trial process. Iowa County Attorneys Association
Recommendation 1: Shared Living Arrangements appear to be a frequently successful mode of containment and treatment for higher risk sex offenders and should be considered a viable living situation for higher risk sex offenders in the community…. Recommendation 2: Placing restrictions on the location of correctionally supervised sex offender residences may not deter the sex offender from re-offending and should not be considered as a method to control sexual offending recidivism. Report on Safety Issues Raised by Living Arrangements for and Location of Sex Offenders in the Community; Colorado Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal justice, Sex Offender Management Board
....the number of sex offenders who are unaccounted for has doubled since the law went into effect. Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault
There is no accommodation in the current statute for persons on parole or probation supervision. These offenders are already monitored and their living arrangements approved. Iowa County Attorneys Association
[This policy] is contrary to well-established principles of treatment and rehabilitation of sex offenders….These goals are severely impaired by the residency restriction, compromising the safety of children by obstructing the use of the best known corrections practice. Iowa County Attorneys Association
The sex offender residency restriction was a very well intentioned effort to keep the children of our communities safe from sex offenders. It has, however, had unintended consequences that effectively decrease community safety. Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault
….some offenders are attempting to comply by providing descriptions of where they are actually living….”under the 7^th street bridge,” “truck near river,” “rest area mile marker 149,” “Flying J, in truck,” “in tent, S side of I-80,” “RV in old K-Mart parking lot,” “I-35 rest area,”….Two listed Quick Trips…. For the first time, sex offender treatment providers tell us, sex offenders are absconding in larger numbers. Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault
When a brutal sexually violent crime occurs, such as the one that occurred in Iowa last year, our societal tendency is to focus all our resources and energy on stopping offenders. The long-term solutions to eradicating sexual violence from our society, however, do not lie in measures taken to stop re-offense, but rather in preventing sexual violence from happening in the first place. Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault
… the Board of the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault joined the Iowa County Attorneys Association in stating that these unintended consequences warrant replacing the residency restriction with more effective measures. Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault
Housing restrictions have passed in most localities with little resistance. Child safety is rightly the primary concern when sex offender restrictions are imposed. It seems to make sense that decreasing access to potential victims would be a feasible strategy to preventing sex crimes. There is no evidence, however, that such laws are effective in reducing recidivistic sexual violence. On the other hand, such laws aggravate the scarcity of housing options for sex offenders, forcing them out of metropolitan areas and farther away from the social support, employment opportunities and social services that are known to aid offenders in successful community re-entry. Sex offender residence restrictions. A Report to the Florida Legislature, October 2005, Jill S. Levinson, Ph.D.
Despite overwhelming public and political support, there is no evidence that proximity to schools increases recidivism, or, conversely, that housing restrictions reduce reoffending or increase community safety. Sex offender residence restrictions. A Report to the Florida Legislature, October 2005, Jill S. Levinson, Ph.D.
Based on the examination of level three re-offenders, there were no examples that residential proximity to a park or school was a contributing factor in any of the sexual re-offenses noted… Enhanced safety due to proximity restrictions may be a comfort factor for the general public, but it does not have any basis in fact…it appears that a sex offender attracted to such locations for purposes of committing a crime is more likely to travel to another neighborhood on order to in secret rather than in a neighborhood where his or her picture is well known. Level Three Sex Offenders Residential Placement Issues, 2003 Report to the Legislature, Minnesota Department of Corrections
Having such restrictions in the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul would likely force level three offenders to move to more rural areas that would not contain nearby schools and parks but would pose other problems, such as high concentration of offenders with no ties to the community; isolation; lack of work, education and treatment options; and an increase in the distance traveled by agents who supervise offenders. Again, no evidence points to any effect on offense rates of school proximity residential restrictions. Level Three Sex Offenders Residential Placement Issues, 2003 Report to the Legislature, Minnesota Department of Corrections
Since blanket proximity restrictions on residential locations of level three offenders do not enhance community safety, the current offender-by-offender restrictions should be retained. Proximity restrictions, based on circumstances on an individual offender, serve as a valuable supervision tool…Most of these supervision proximity restrictions address the issue of the offender associating or interacting with children or minors, rather than where the offender resides. Level Three Sex Offenders Residential Placement Issues, 2003 Report to the Legislature, Minnesota Department of Corrections
A significant number of offenders have married or have been reunited with their victims; and, in those cases, the residency restriction is imposed on the victims as well as the offenders. Iowa County Attorneys Association…
A tight web of supervision, treatment and surveillance may be more important in maintaining community safety than where a sex offender resides. Report on Safety Issues Raised by Living Arrangements for and Location of Sex Offenders in the Community; Colorado Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal justice, Sex Offender Management Board.

September

Hope.Burns — 2017-02-02T14:20:00Z

September

cherylca — 2017-12-06T16:03:53Z

Senate 2 11 2015

cherylca — 2015-02-12T19:28:54Z

Overview of the Kansas Department of Corrections to Senate Ways & Means Subcommittee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice (Secretary Ray Roberts, February 11, 2015)

Senate 1 23 2014

cherylca — 2014-01-23T20:47:00Z

Overview of the Kansas Department of Corrections to:Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs: Presented by Secretary Ray Roberts (January 23, 2014)

Senate 1 14 2015

cherylca — 2015-01-14T17:05:00Z

Overview of the Kansas Department of Corrections to House Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice

Secretary Werholtz's Response to Recent Articles in the Topeka Capital-Journal (October 6, 2009)

David Cook — 2011-08-17T16:53:48Z

Secretary Werholtz's response to the editorial and related news articles recently published in the Topeka Capital-Journal concerning staff activities in Kansas correctional facilities.

Secretary Werholtz's Response to Recent Articles in the Topeka Capital-Journal (October 6, 2009)

David Cook — 2011-08-17T16:53:27Z

Secretary Werholtz's response to the editorial and related news articles recently published in the Topeka Capital-Journal concerning staff activities in Kansas correctional facilities.

Schedule

cherylca — 2015-06-11T15:35:00Z

---------------- MEETING SCHEDULE ---------------- Topeka, Kansas
June 17, 2015	12:30 - 3:30 p.m.	Jayhawk Tower, 700 SW Jackson St. (Florentine Room)
July 8, 2015:	10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.	Kansas Department of Corrections, 714 SW Jackson St. (Third Floor, Large Conference Room)
August 19, 2015:	10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.	Kansas Department of Corrections, 714 SW Jackson St. (Third Floor, Large Conference Room)
September 9, 2015:	10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.	Kansas Department of Corrections, 714 SW Jackson St. (Third Floor, Large Conference Room)
October 21, 2015:	10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.	Kansas Department of Corrections, 714 SW Jackson St. (Third Floor, Large Conference Room)
November 17, 2015:	10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.	Kansas Department of Corrections, 714 SW Jackson St. (Third Floor, Large Conference Room)

News Releases | Members | Presentations

____________________________________________________________________________

SB_367W

cherylca — 2016-03-25T18:47:59Z

March 7, 2016

SB_367M

cherylca — 2016-03-25T18:51:58Z

March 7, 2016

public

Speakers Bureau

Shaw obit

Shannon Meyer

Sex Offender Supervision Handbook

Sex Offender Housing Restrictions

September

September

Senate 2 11 2015

Senate 1 23 2014

Senate 1 14 2015

Secretary Werholtz's Response to Recent Articles in the Topeka Capital-Journal (October 6, 2009)

Secretary Werholtz's Response to Recent Articles in the Topeka Capital-Journal (October 6, 2009)

Schedule

---------------- MEETING SCHEDULE ----------------

SB_367W

SB_367M