irisheyes66
11-23-2004, 06:35 PM
The following is a Press Release dated 11/23/04 (today), taken from the KDOC website.
http://docnet.dc.state.ks.us/pressreleases/pr11-23-04.pdf
There has been a growing interest in the subject of sexual misconduct and undue familiarity within Kansas Department of Corrections facilities. For this reason, Secretary of Corrections Roger Werholtz would like to provide the public with as much information as possible regarding legislation and Department policies as they relate to this topic. The current statutory law which governs unlawful sexual relations among Department of Corrections employees within facilities is Kansas Statutes Annotated 21-3520 (1). This section reads in pertinent part, “The offender is an employee of the department of corrections or the employee of a contractor who is under contract to provide services for a correctional institution and the person with whom the offender is engaging in consensual sexual intercourse, lewd fondling or touching, or sodomy is a person 16 years of age or older who is an inmate…” Unlawful sexual relations is a severity level 10, person felony. The Kansas Department of Corrections initiated the legislation as a method of emphasizing that it would not tolerate this type of activity among its staff members. In addition to statutory law, the Kansas Department of Corrections has internal policy which defines acceptable behavior between staff and inmates. The first of these policies relates to sexual misconduct. This is defined in KDOC policy as “Sexual behavior that is directed by an employee toward an offender under the supervision of the Kansas Department of Corrections. Sexual misconduct includes acts or attempts to commit acts of sexual abuse, sexual contact, sexual assault, unlawful sexual relations, and sexual harassment. It also includes conversations or correspondence that demonstrate or suggest a romantic or intimate relationship between an offender and the employee. Whether or not the offender consents or initiates the behavior is irrelevant in determining if sexual misconduct has occurred.
The second Kansas Department of Corrections policy which addresses behavior between staff and inmates relates to undue familiarity. This is defined as, “Conversation, contact, personal or business dealing between an employee and offender under the supervision of the Secretary of Corrections which is unnecessary, not a part of the employee’s duties, and related to a personal relationship or purpose rather than a legitimate correctional purpose. Undue familiarity includes horseplay, betting, trading, dealing, socializing, family contact unrelated to the employee’s duties, sharing or giving food, delivering or intending to deliver contraband, personal conversation, exchanging correspondence, sexual misconduct, or in any other manner developing a relationship with an offender which is anything other than an employee/offender relationship.” In Fiscal Year 2003, the Department reported 2 suspensions statewide for undue familiarity and 5 dismissals statewide for undue familiarity. Neither one of the suspensions was for sexual relations and only one of the dismissals was for sexual relations. In Fiscal Year 2004, the Department reported 2 suspensions statewide for undue familiarity and 16 dismissals for undue familiarity. Neither one of the suspensions was for sexual relations and only one of the dismissals was for sexual relations. A survey of the individual incidents revealed that the majority of those incidents involved activities such as personal conversations, telephoning the inmate, and exchanging letters, rather than sexual relations. Secretary of Corrections Roger Werholtz believes that the marked rise in FY 2004 dismissals for undue familiarity is due to the increasingly pervasive understanding of the agency’s strong position on this subject. Now that staff and inmates have come to realize how serious the agency is about enforcing the law and policy on this issue, they are more openly reporting incidents. Additionally, the agency is emphasizing its position through a system of progressive discipline that can include dismissing employees who violate the policy, rather than pursuing interim measures. Secretary of Corrections, Roger Werholtz said, "As an agency, we must avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Corrections staff are held to a higher standard of behavior both within institutions and in the community. While working in difficult and even dangerous conditions we expect the highest levels of conduct from corrections staff and that expectation is most often fulfilled.
http://docnet.dc.state.ks.us/pressreleases/pr11-23-04.pdf
There has been a growing interest in the subject of sexual misconduct and undue familiarity within Kansas Department of Corrections facilities. For this reason, Secretary of Corrections Roger Werholtz would like to provide the public with as much information as possible regarding legislation and Department policies as they relate to this topic. The current statutory law which governs unlawful sexual relations among Department of Corrections employees within facilities is Kansas Statutes Annotated 21-3520 (1). This section reads in pertinent part, “The offender is an employee of the department of corrections or the employee of a contractor who is under contract to provide services for a correctional institution and the person with whom the offender is engaging in consensual sexual intercourse, lewd fondling or touching, or sodomy is a person 16 years of age or older who is an inmate…” Unlawful sexual relations is a severity level 10, person felony. The Kansas Department of Corrections initiated the legislation as a method of emphasizing that it would not tolerate this type of activity among its staff members. In addition to statutory law, the Kansas Department of Corrections has internal policy which defines acceptable behavior between staff and inmates. The first of these policies relates to sexual misconduct. This is defined in KDOC policy as “Sexual behavior that is directed by an employee toward an offender under the supervision of the Kansas Department of Corrections. Sexual misconduct includes acts or attempts to commit acts of sexual abuse, sexual contact, sexual assault, unlawful sexual relations, and sexual harassment. It also includes conversations or correspondence that demonstrate or suggest a romantic or intimate relationship between an offender and the employee. Whether or not the offender consents or initiates the behavior is irrelevant in determining if sexual misconduct has occurred.
The second Kansas Department of Corrections policy which addresses behavior between staff and inmates relates to undue familiarity. This is defined as, “Conversation, contact, personal or business dealing between an employee and offender under the supervision of the Secretary of Corrections which is unnecessary, not a part of the employee’s duties, and related to a personal relationship or purpose rather than a legitimate correctional purpose. Undue familiarity includes horseplay, betting, trading, dealing, socializing, family contact unrelated to the employee’s duties, sharing or giving food, delivering or intending to deliver contraband, personal conversation, exchanging correspondence, sexual misconduct, or in any other manner developing a relationship with an offender which is anything other than an employee/offender relationship.” In Fiscal Year 2003, the Department reported 2 suspensions statewide for undue familiarity and 5 dismissals statewide for undue familiarity. Neither one of the suspensions was for sexual relations and only one of the dismissals was for sexual relations. In Fiscal Year 2004, the Department reported 2 suspensions statewide for undue familiarity and 16 dismissals for undue familiarity. Neither one of the suspensions was for sexual relations and only one of the dismissals was for sexual relations. A survey of the individual incidents revealed that the majority of those incidents involved activities such as personal conversations, telephoning the inmate, and exchanging letters, rather than sexual relations. Secretary of Corrections Roger Werholtz believes that the marked rise in FY 2004 dismissals for undue familiarity is due to the increasingly pervasive understanding of the agency’s strong position on this subject. Now that staff and inmates have come to realize how serious the agency is about enforcing the law and policy on this issue, they are more openly reporting incidents. Additionally, the agency is emphasizing its position through a system of progressive discipline that can include dismissing employees who violate the policy, rather than pursuing interim measures. Secretary of Corrections, Roger Werholtz said, "As an agency, we must avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Corrections staff are held to a higher standard of behavior both within institutions and in the community. While working in difficult and even dangerous conditions we expect the highest levels of conduct from corrections staff and that expectation is most often fulfilled.