A group of community leaders from Labette County made a trip to Topeka on Dec. 19 in a lobbying effort toward keeping the Labette Women’s Correctional Camp open.
The camp is set to close at the end of business today, Dec. 31, by the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Lonie Addis, chairman of the Labette County Commission, said a total of six people representing Labette County attended the meeting with Sec. of Corrections Roger Werholtz and Chuck Simmons, deputy secretary for facilities management for the KDOC.
“I think it went well,” said Addis. “But at this point, it looks like the women’s camp will close at the end of December, then the men’s camp will close by June. We are still seeking alternatives and seeking assistance and will try our best to keep the camps open, but we will also entertain other options.”
Those options might include converting the correctional camps into regular prison housing. Specific interest has been shown by officials of the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department in Wichita which is needing more cell space for inmates.
But Addis said he and other community leaders are still hoping to keep the men’s portion of the local camp open. Although LCCC administrator Tom Bringle has not been officially notified of the men’s camp closing, he fully expects to receive that notice after Jan. 1, with a six-month notice.
That gap in timing will give the local leaders some time to lobby lawmakers in Topeka and other officials of the KDOC. In the case of the women’s camp closure, there was scarcely any time since its closing happened within 45 days of the first notice from the KDOC.  Since the Kansas Legislature would not reconvene until January, it left few options for local leaders to consider.
Those attending the Dec. 19 meeting in Topeka were: Commissioner Addis,  LCC President Dr. George Knox and LCCC Board Member; Stacey Green, former inmate at LCWC and current LWCC board member; Tom Bringle, LWCC Administrator; Sen. Dwayne Umbarger and Rep. Rich Proehl.
Addis said the presentations by local officials to the KDOC officials were well received, however he granted that those in Topeka have a difficult job ahead of them making necessary cuts in state spending to offset a nearly $1 billion deficit from the past year.
The group had hoped to meet with Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius but she was out of town. Her chief of staff, Troy Finley, and three other aides met with the local delegation.

Sen. Dwayne Umbarger and State Rep. Richard Proehl are trying to set up a meeting with Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in the near future to discuss the future of the Labette County Correctional Conservation Camps located at Oswego.
The two lawmakers told a group of local and area community leaders last Thursday that the fight to keep the women’s camp would be difficult at best. The women’s portion of the LCCC is set for closing by the Kansas Department of Corrections on Dec. 31.
“The legislature won’t convene until a full week after the closing of the women’s camp,” said Umbarger. “I will make a call to see if we can take a group of local citizens to Topeka to meet with the governor and the secretary of corrections.”
The Oswego Economic Development Committee called Thursday’s meeting which included city, county, school, community college, church and chamber of commerce leaders from several area towns.
Umbarger expressed concern that Oswego would not only lose its women’s camp but that the men’s camp also could close in early 2009.
“It is my understanding that the men’s camp could close as early as March,” Umbarger said.
Tom Bringle, who serves as mayor of Oswego and administrator of the correctional camps, said he fully expects to receive official notification about the men’s camp closing shortly after Jan. 1. “It requires a six-month notice,” he said, “so that would take it to July.”
While several community leaders spoke impassionately about the camps and their impact upon the local economy, their greatest points of emphasis were the positive ways the camps have impacted those who have gone through the program as inmates.
While Umbarger remained strong in his support for the camps, he said current state finances were at a crisis level. “Cuts are being made in all areas except for K-12 schools,” he said. “The Kansas Department of Corrections has already made significant reductions in their overall budget that includes three other prison facilities. So getting anyone in the KDOC to change their minds will be difficult, at best.”
Umbarger, Proehl and Bringle said their greatest hope at this point is to get a “stay” for the women’s camp to remain open until its contract runs out. “This would give us a few months to get organized and talk to some people in Topeka,” said Umbarger. “But this thing happened at the wrong time — right before the holidays when nobody is in Topeka, and a month before the start of the 2009 legislative session.”
Lonie Addis, chairman of the Labette County Commission, said he will fight to keep the camp “until there is no fight left in me.” Addis has been a commissioner during all the years the camp has been in operation.
Blair said the OEDC will work with Umbarger and Proehl in an effort to set up a meeting with the governor and secretary of corrections.
The potential loss of 62 jobs is at stake if both the men’s and women’s camps are closed.

Sen. Dwayne Umbarger will meet Thursday afternoon with community leaders in Oswego and surrounding towns and counties, Phil Blair said today.
Blair is chairman of the Oswego Economic Development Committee which is spearheading a lobbying effort to keep the Labette County Women’s Correctional Conservation Camp open. The Kansas Sec. of Corrections, Roger Werholtz, announced on Nov. 17 that the local boot camp would close at the end of December.
“We’re inviting as many community leaders as we can get to attend this meeting and provide input to Sen. Umbarger,” said Blair who is a former Oswego mayor.
Umbarger is chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committe in Topeka and Blair hopes he can convince the governor’s office and Department of Corrections officials to change their minds.
Invitations have been extended to community leaders in Oswego, Parsons, Chetopa, Altamont, Labette County, Cherokee, Montgomery County and others.
The meeting will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday at the new Oswego Community Building at the fairgrounds.
“This camp has benefitted a large area of communities and has always been considered a successful and beneficial operation,” he said.
Blair is urging everyone to sign a petition in opposition to the closing of the LWCCC. The petition has been placed inside the Oswego city office.
He reiterated that the Oswego community can’t just stand idly by and let the state close a facility that has been such a great community asset.”
Blair said he was mayor of Oswego when the men’s camp first opened in 1991.
Both Sen. Umbarger and State Rep. Richard Proehl have been in contact with Werholtz and they will continue to argue for state officials to reconsider their action.
Both Umbarger and Proehl have emphasized that the boot camp concept is unique in the punishment of those convicted of crimes in Kansas and it has been quite successful. The recidivism rate has been lower for repeat offenders among those inmates who completed the programs at Oswego.
The women’s camp currently employs 14 workers and houses 27 inmates.The closing was again discussed at Monday’s meeting of the Labette County Commission.
Chairman Lonie Addis has been in constant contact with state and local leaders in an effort to show the county’s opposition to the camp closing. Addis also fears the men’s camp might close in the near future, too, which would put another 46 employees out of work. The camps are operated by Labette County under a contract with the Kansas State Department of Corrections.
A group of sheriff’s department officials from Sedgwick County were scheduled to tour the women’s facility on Tuesday as various proposals are being discussed for the camp’s continued use. A possible idea would be to house prisoners from Sedgwick and other counties since there is a shortage of cell space in most county jails.
However, Addis, Blair and a host of area community leaders are hoping they can change minds in Topeka before any such concepts are considered.
Sec. Werholtz said the state of Kansas will save more than $1 million annual by closing the women’s camp. No estimate was given on savings if the men’s camp is closed.
A delegation headed by Charles E. Simmons, Deputy Secretary for Facilities Management for the KDOC, was scheduled to tour the women’s facility today (Wednesday) to take inventory of personal property at the site.