KS Governor wants prison reform

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly says she wants prison reform.  Kelly said she wants to move the state’s prison system from being, “…all-punitive to much more therapeutic.”

The Governor made those comments on Tuesday while speaking to more than 200 people at a Wichita school district administration building.

Kelly says she’s learned that the challenges within the Kansas Department of Corrections are worse than she  anticipated. Kelly also said she would seek someone eager to properly staff prisons and transition the facilities to a rehabilitative footing while searching for a replacement to the agency’s interim leader.

She went on to say that Kansas should engage in comprehensive sentencing reform because too many people were being thrown in jails and prisons being held too long to receive any benefit.