Lawmakers told Hutchinson Correctional Facility is structurally outdated and costly to renovate; replacement and new beds would take years and hundreds of milll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