Complaints Issued to KDOC on Behalf of Inmates' Rights Group

There is a group of us that have consistently contacted by email and phone all Kansas Department of Corrections Board Members, Hutchinson Correctional Facility Warden, Unit Team Managers at Hutchinson Correctional Facility, State Representatives, and Governor Laura Kelly. The few responses that some of the group members have received by these people/entities have been patronizing and denial that these issues are occurring. We have also contacted other (KBI, Reno County Health Department) for documentation purposes though these need to be brought in by the aforementioned entities to do investigations...such as KBI. We have contacted the Kansas ACLU. We have also contacted News Media by email, phone, and social media.

The conditions at this facility are horrendous. I am going to start with this...even the Hutchinson Hospital has taken notice and now filed a complaint of their concerns against the Hutchinson Correctional Facility due to the extreme number of overdose inmate/patients that have been brought into the hospital from the prison by ambulance over the past couple of months. This also doesn't account for the inmates treated with Narcan and/or at the infirmary of the prison itself. Deputy Wardens and Correction Officers have been brought in from El Dorado and Lansing as several of the Hutchinson Correctional Officers are under investigation. There have been several deaths of inmates that the KBI is investigating...I will state that it is protocol for any inmate death to be investigated by the KDOC/KBI.

The Facility is on lockdown due to several Correctional Officers being under investigation for trafficking drugs into the facility. The inmates are not being allowed cleaning supplies, religious practices, hygiene care, regular showers, medical care, (having to choose basically between the medicine line or the food line because time is not enough for both due to how long the lines are), law library access, being able to do a Form 9, cleaning supplies, inmates personal book ownership banned as of May 22, 2025...fundamental human rights. No form of visitation (in person or video) or phone calls from our incarcerated loved ones due to the actions of correction officers.

The inmates aren't being allowed commissary which allows the purchase of stamped envelopes for writing letters to be mailed out. There has been some inmates that have had stamped envelopes still and they have written letters to the Governor of Kansas and Local News Media that mysteriously was never received by the intended recipients. There is staph and MRSA throughout the prison which is only going to be spread more especially without proper cleaning supplies and medical attention. Black mold, rats/mice, maggots in the kitchen food preparation area, standing toilet on various floors throughout the prison, drinking water from trash cans, deceased inmates (one undiscovered for over six hours in the shower due to correction officers not doing their rounds), correction officers standing by as an inmate was attempted to be raped, meals not being prepared properly/being served on time (as in three-four hours late) and not the mandated portions at that, inmates missing their personal property, unit team managers not doing their job, inmates loved ones calling and being given the run around having to leave voicemails never receiving a call back and even being hung up on.

This lockdown doesn't address the unsanitary conditions or the basic hygiene, cleaning supplies, medical, or religious rights of our loved ones...this lockdown isn't a result of the inmates actions rather it's due to the correction officers that are being investigated...it's an unjustified consequence for our loved ones and us. Our loved ones are paying their debt to society for whatever crime they have committed; they should not also further be held accountable for the crimes that the correction officers are under investigation for...it seems to me that the officers that swore and took an oath to uphold the law and have broke that oath/law should be the ones held accountable. The inmates now are being coerced/bribe attempts by the authorities that are at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility investigating this situation with being moved to a "better" prison and/or having the lockdown lifted, which is despicable! The prison should be in a sanitary condition to begin with and the correction officers that are under investigation should be the ones held to the flame. There are inmates that have been there for several years, some due to get out in a few months, and they state that the conditions there are the worst they have ever seen in any facility they have been in.

They, nor any of their loved ones, expect the Holiday Inn but there is an expectation of the bare constitutional rights. The Kansas Department of Corrections and Hutchinson Correctional Facility are NOT being transparent concerning this. There are several messages from different inmates with their tablets that we have screenshots of. Please, there will not be change without transparency and accountability.

Inmate Rights Protest, Hutchinson, KS June 21, 2025

Organized by Shelly Eberhardt Photos courtesy of Shelly Eberhardt

Protestors sit outside prison, giving a voice to inmates they say have been silenced

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (KAKE) - A handful of protestors took to a street near the Hutchinson Correctional Facility on Saturday, raising serious concern about inmate conditions and treatment behind bars.

It follows a lockdown period and growing anxiety from family and friends who say their loved ones inside the facility are being neglected and silenced.

"The toilets are bubbling up on their own. This is a building that is over 100 years old, so there is some plumbing issues, AC issues, cracks where it rains, there's some mold issue in there," said Shelly Eberhardt-McGann, one of the protestors.

The group describes a lockdown at the facility, following the discovery of drugs inside that made it past security measures and restrictions. The lockdown, they say, left inmates without hygiene, supplies, and communication.

"There's been some staph and MRSA here, and with them being denied cleaning supplies right now, and the overdoses if they're vomiting or there's been feces or urine in the cell, that stuff's just left there," said Eberhardt-McGann. "That's kind of unsanitary. It's not good."

With what they say has been little-to-no communication with inmates or answers as to why, protestors reached out to local and state leaders.

So did KAKE News.

The Kansas Department of Corrections issued the following response:

"Kansas Department of Corrections prioritizes the safety and well-being of residents and staff, as such a modified lockdown was put in place at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility from June 7-16. During lockdown situations, operations are modified, which includes limiting both movement and access to some services. The facility resumed normal operations on June 17th. Concerns raised during lockdown by residents and family members are being appropriately addressed."

Days after normal operations apparently resumed, protestors say conditions are still dire. One mother even fears for the safety and life of the man she raised.

"My son is in there," said Lena Smith. She also shared that her son was put in the hole, accused of being a gang member. "He went five days without toilet paper and eight days without a shower, washing himself with his hands. It got so bad he almost tried to commit suicide."

Mental health, they say, has been a battle. Protestors claim that with the way things are being run, their loved ones have had to choose between either receiving medication or receiving food, and there isn't time to do both.

"It's still somebody's loved one, it's somebody's son," said Macie Hernandez, another protestor. "They deserve basic, fundamental human rights."