TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback has signed legislation clearing the way for conversion of a former boys’ home in north-central Kansas into a minimum-security prison.
The Salina Journal reports the bill signed Friday allows the state Corrections Department to buy the former St. Francis Boys’ Home in Ellsworth. The purchase is expected to cost around $350,000.
Plans call for using the building to house 95 minimum-security inmates. That would free up space for medium-security inmates at the Ellsworth Correctional Facility.
Concerns about prison space in Kansas became especially acute in April after four state inmates broke out of the Ottawa County Jail. They were among 22 men being held there because of overcrowding at the Ellsworth prison.
