Lawmakers told Hutchinson Correctional Facility is structurally outdated and costly to renovate; replacement and new beds would take years and hundreds of milll

Secretary Jeff Samuda of the Kansas Department of Corrections told a Joint Committee on State Building Construction that Hutchinson Correctional Facility’s central unit is structurally old, lacks modern safety systems and fails common space standards, and that the state faces a choice between expensive, disruptive renovations or building a new central unit.

Samuda said Hutchinson’s three units (central, south and east) together house about 1,766 adult male inmates and that the central unit contains some original construction dating to the late 19th century. "The living units are typically hot in the summer... plumbing and electrical systems require regular attention," Samuda said, summarizing maintenance and habitability problems.

Why it matters: committee members were warned the site’s age and design limit safe operations and programming. Samuda cited a 2021 facility condition assessment that identified roughly $80 million in capital needs in 2021 dollars (about $95 million in 2026 dollars) for items the firm could readily identify, but he said that amount does not include costs to bring the facility into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, asbestos mitigation, installation of air conditioning or creation of additional day‑room space.

KDOC’s repair funding is limited, Samuda said: the department has about $8.3 million annually for repair and maintenance across all adult facilities. That figure, he added, “doesn’t go very far” relative to the scale of work at Hutchinson.

Space and safety details: Samuda described roughly 600 small cells at the central unit, with many measuring about 5½ by 7½ feet and larger ones about 6 by 8 feet; by contrast the American Correctional Association recommends a minimum of 70 square feet per cell. The central unit also contains nearly 80 four‑person cells, which Samuda said can magnify behavioral incidents because multiple residents share extremely limited space. He described poor lines of sight in older tier designs and an officer operating a mechanical lockbox who cannot adequately observe the population when unlocking doors.

Security and contraband: Samuda noted two city streets run close to the facility walls, leaving little buffer and creating a pathway for contraband — drugs and cell phones — to be thrown over the wall. "Most facilities have a buffer between public rights of way and the facility; we do not," he told the committee.

Cost and financing examples: Samuda said past budget proposals sought to replace all three units (an earlier estimate cited in testimony was on the order of $712 million), but the legislature did not fund that plan. KDOC scaled back a submission to focus on replacing the central unit; Samuda gave a current illustrative estimate to rebuild the central unit with an additional 400 beds at about $453 million and said, as an example, a 20‑year bond for that central‑unit rebuild would carry roughly $34.5 million in annual debt service.

Timing and operations: if the committee approved a rebuild, Samuda estimated design, procurement and construction would take about 40–50 months from the green light (roughly 3½–4 years). On staging, he said KDOC’s preferred approach would be to construct a new building on land they own (about 254 acres at Hutchinson), keep inmates in the existing facility during construction, then relocate them when the new unit is ready; he said KDOC has not decided whether the old facility would be demolished or repurposed.

Questions from legislators covered whether architectural firms had been hired (Samuda said no firm had been hired for final designs; KDOC had consulted construction and architecture firms for comparative cost estimates), the risk of asbestos or other hazardous materials, how inmates are assigned to four‑person cells, whether parts of the facility have any historic‑preservation designation (Samuda said he was not aware of one and would verify), and the potential costs of demolition or repurposing.

What didn’t happen today: committee members did not take votes or make formal funding commitments. The chair asked KDOC to provide follow‑up information including estimates for architectural/design fees and other cost details.

Next steps: the committee encouraged visits to Hutchinson and signaled the issue will continue into the next legislative session as members weigh whether to fund design services, renovation projects, or a major capital replacement.

Attributions: Secretary Jeff Samuda, Kansas Department of Corrections; committee exchanges and questions are recorded in the hearing record.