Topeka ? Atty. Gen. Phill Kline on Tuesday announced the formation of a task force to arrest parole violators, but said the bottom line was that Kansas must build a new prison to prevent the early release of criminals.

“Kansas needs to build a prison. We have to stop letting violent criminals out on the street. You’re asking for human tragedy when you do so,” Kline said.

Kline said he would lobby lawmakers in the 2004 legislative session to build a new prison and increase sanctions against absconders once they are caught. Absconders are offenders on parole or probation who have not reported to parole officers and cannot be found.

Kline conducted news conferences across the state to announce formation of a task force within the attorney general’s office to help catch absconders.

The state has about 462 absconders, including five who have been convicted of murder, four of kidnapping and 48 of sex crimes including rape, aggravated incest and indecent liberties with a child.

The task force is led by Tom Williams, a retired FBI agent who now works for Kline, and Asst. Atty. Gen. Steve Maxwell. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has assigned two senior special agents to help coordinate law enforcement efforts to catch absconders.

Called PADLOC (Parole Absconder Detection, Location and Capture), the group has worked on the arrests of six absconders since May, Kline said.

“These are the worst of the worst and we need to get them off the street,” said Topeka Police Chief Ed Klump, who attended a news conference along with Shawnee County Sheriff Dick Barta and KBI Director Larry Welch.

Last year in Lawrence, Damien Lewis, who had been released from prison on parole, failed to report to his parole officer and murdered two people. He was recently sentenced to 158 years in prison.

Kansas Atty. Gen. Phill Kline, right, surrounded by Wichita law enforcement officials, announces a statewide task force to track down parole violators. Kline traveled around the state Tuesday to make the announcements.

But captured absconders, if they haven’t committed any crimes, will most likely be released in 90 days — the maximum sanction for failing to report to a parole officer, Kline said.

Kline said those penalties needed to be increased, and more paroles denied. He said parole was being used to alleviate prison crowding conditions.

“We have had a trend of using sentencing guidelines as a budget tool rather than as a tool for justice and we are reaping the whirlwind,” Kline said.

The Kansas prison system has a capacity of 9,114 inmates and is currently holding 9,046, officials said.

State prison officials said they welcomed help from Kline’s office, but issued a news release that said the Kansas Department of Correction’s own efforts at catching absconders “is impressive.”

During the last fiscal year, 1,414 absconder warrants were cleared, the department said. Currently, the department supervises 4,167 offenders in Kansas, and 968 Kansas offenders are being supervised under compacts with other states.

Kline said the creation of the task force did not imply that the Corrections Department was failing in its job in catching absconders.

¢Offenders in Douglas County under supervision of the Kansas Department of Corrections Parole staff¢All counties

He said the task force would enhance the state’s ability to catch absconders.

“When you see trash in the park, you don’t argue over whose job it is to pick it up. You pick it up and put it in the trash,” he said.