irisheyes66
08-03-2004, 01:18 AM
This article originally appeared on DodgeGlobe.com
_____________________________________________
By John Milburn
Associated Press Writer
TOPEKA, -- The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is reviewing six recent inmate deaths, and an official worried Thursday that a new law requiring such reviews is placing unexpected demands on the agency.
"Given limited resources, we want to use our resources appropriately," said Kyle Smith, a KBI special agent and the bureau's spokesman.
Smith said the "rash" of deaths was somewhat unexpected. The KBI supported the new law, which took effect July 1, expecting to conduct between five and 30 reviews annually.
Smith said it is difficult to determine the cost of conducting each review and that agents were investigating the deaths as part of normal duties.
Two men have died in the Sedgwick County jail, one in Shawnee County, one in Sumner County, one in the El Dorado prison and one in the Lansing prison. Smith said the investigations are continuing and include toxicology reports from the KBI lab.
The law requires the KBI to conduct a thorough review of any inmate death in state, county or juvenile correctional facilities, or the death of any person in private or out-of-state facilities. The findings of the investigation are to be made public, with a report to legislators.
The KBI will investigate deaths and categorize them as suicidal, homicidal, accidental or natural causes. Results will be presented to the chairmen of the Senate Judiciary and House Juvenile Justice and Corrections committees. Smith said the reports would be made quarterly and may be posted on the KBI web site.
"There may be some valuable lessons," he said. "We have to look at them."
Smith said if the demands on the KBI continued it may be appropriate to revisit the law, such as modifying it to allow for exceptions when the death is clearly of natural causes.
Sonny Scroggins, the Topeka activist who conceived the law, said he is pleased the law is working but hopes any modifications will not create a loophole where officials could categorize deaths liberally as natural causes.
"I understand what he's saying," Scroggins said. "I think that's reasonable, but we need to be as open to the public as possible about what happened."
Inmate deaths have been the subject of at least three lawsuits involving the Shawnee County Correctional Facility.
A federal jury in April 2003 awarded $10 million to the family of Scott Smith, 23, who committed suicide in the Shawnee jail in 1999. The jury found there had been negligence in the county's handling of Sisk after his mother told jail workers he was a suicide risk.
Sisk died only a few days into a one-year sentence for violating an order to keep him from contact with a former girlfriend.
In March, the county reached a $150,000 settlement with the family of James Edward Roberts Jr., who died in the jail in December 2001. Another lawsuit, filed by Cathy Thomas, mother of Anthony Stapleton, is scheduled to go to trial in federal court in 2005. Stapleton, 28, committed suicide in the jail in November 2002.
_____________________________________________
By John Milburn
Associated Press Writer
TOPEKA, -- The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is reviewing six recent inmate deaths, and an official worried Thursday that a new law requiring such reviews is placing unexpected demands on the agency.
"Given limited resources, we want to use our resources appropriately," said Kyle Smith, a KBI special agent and the bureau's spokesman.
Smith said the "rash" of deaths was somewhat unexpected. The KBI supported the new law, which took effect July 1, expecting to conduct between five and 30 reviews annually.
Smith said it is difficult to determine the cost of conducting each review and that agents were investigating the deaths as part of normal duties.
Two men have died in the Sedgwick County jail, one in Shawnee County, one in Sumner County, one in the El Dorado prison and one in the Lansing prison. Smith said the investigations are continuing and include toxicology reports from the KBI lab.
The law requires the KBI to conduct a thorough review of any inmate death in state, county or juvenile correctional facilities, or the death of any person in private or out-of-state facilities. The findings of the investigation are to be made public, with a report to legislators.
The KBI will investigate deaths and categorize them as suicidal, homicidal, accidental or natural causes. Results will be presented to the chairmen of the Senate Judiciary and House Juvenile Justice and Corrections committees. Smith said the reports would be made quarterly and may be posted on the KBI web site.
"There may be some valuable lessons," he said. "We have to look at them."
Smith said if the demands on the KBI continued it may be appropriate to revisit the law, such as modifying it to allow for exceptions when the death is clearly of natural causes.
Sonny Scroggins, the Topeka activist who conceived the law, said he is pleased the law is working but hopes any modifications will not create a loophole where officials could categorize deaths liberally as natural causes.
"I understand what he's saying," Scroggins said. "I think that's reasonable, but we need to be as open to the public as possible about what happened."
Inmate deaths have been the subject of at least three lawsuits involving the Shawnee County Correctional Facility.
A federal jury in April 2003 awarded $10 million to the family of Scott Smith, 23, who committed suicide in the Shawnee jail in 1999. The jury found there had been negligence in the county's handling of Sisk after his mother told jail workers he was a suicide risk.
Sisk died only a few days into a one-year sentence for violating an order to keep him from contact with a former girlfriend.
In March, the county reached a $150,000 settlement with the family of James Edward Roberts Jr., who died in the jail in December 2001. Another lawsuit, filed by Cathy Thomas, mother of Anthony Stapleton, is scheduled to go to trial in federal court in 2005. Stapleton, 28, committed suicide in the jail in November 2002.