2 uprisings at troubled prison unreported, guards say

WICHITA, Kan. —Inmates at a Kansas prison housing some of the state’s most dangerous criminals twice took control of the prison yard for hours in recent months, setting a fire, trying to create barricades and breaking into a security office, in mass disturbances not previously disclosed by corrections officials, according to prison guards who spoke to the Associated Press.

Two corrections officers and a third person who could see the emergency logs as the disturbances unfolded spoke on condition of anonymity because they fear reprisals from their employer. They said low staffing, work shifts of up to 16 hours, and prison overcrowding have created dangerous conditions for guards at the El Dorado Correctional Facility.

The two previously undisclosed uprisings were during the week of May 8 and on June 24 — the second incident just days before a third disturbance on June 29 became public because inmates accessed a working cell phone while it unfolded and called relatives, the officers said. The Kansas Department of Corrections has downplayed the third disturbance as nonviolent with minimal damage.

But a corrections officer who was at the facility on June 29 said that inmates tore out security cameras, smashed windows and broke lockers and monitors. They also stole personal items belonging to guards. The disturbance involved 60 to 80 offenders and included two separate fights among inmates.

In response to an open records request from the AP, the department said Tuesday that 11 discipline reports on inmates were written with alleged violations on June 29.

Kansas law requires an investigation and report to the Legislature on any inmate death and annual reports to lawmakers on serious crimes committed by offenders in custody.