TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) State corrections officials says most inmates serving time in county jails for sex crimes or murder have been moved back to state prisons.
The move comes after four inmates, including one convicted of two murders, escaped from the Ottawa County jail earlier this month. The prisoners were all caught within three days. But the escape raised concerns about the types of criminals being transferred to county jails because of overcrowding.
Secretary of Corrections Ray Roberts told The Wichita Eagle the state believes the county jails are secure. He says the inmates were moved to ease public concern about violent prisoners housed in jails in Ottawa, Butler, Cowley and Leavenworth counties.
Roberts says the four county jails all were built within the last decade and are newer than state prisons.
