Leavenworth federal penitentiary to become medium-security institution

Some inmates and staff to change, but name of prison will remain same

Leavenworth ? Maximum-security inmates at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth are expected to be moved within the next nine to 12 months as the facility is transformed into a medium-security institution.

Harley Lappin, director of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, said more capacity was needed at the medium-security level, and the move at Leavenworth and the federal prison in Atlanta would save millions of dollars.

“What was told to us is that there isn’t anything wrong with Leavenworth and Atlanta,” said Jack Fox, spokesman for the Leavenworth prison. “It’s just that there’s so much penitentiary bed space available and, in the more modern type of facilities, it’s much more cost-efficient and you can monitor the inmates better.”

The Leavenworth facility was the nation’s first federal prison, authorized in 1891 by the Three Prison Act, and Atlanta followed in 1902.

With advances in technology, it’s easier to monitor maximum-security inmates in new prisons with fewer staff than it is at the century-old facilities. As of June 7, there were 1,560 inmates at Leavenworth.

The move is expected to result in the loss of 106 jobs at Leavenworth, but prison officials said the cuts will be through attrition, either by retirements or transfers.

“There will be no displacement, which is good,” Fox said.

He said the number of inmates should remain relatively the same, but the new ones will be lower risk than the previous prisoners. All of the current and future inmates are men.

Traci Billingsley, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Prisons, said efforts will be made to move the high-security inmates to prisons within 500 miles of where they were convicted.

“Each one will be reassessed and determined which institution is most appropriate for placement,” she said.

Fox said that while the types of inmates housed at the prison will change, the name of the historical structure will not.

“We’re not going to change our name, meaning we’re still going to be called USP Leavenworth,” he said. “We just won’t have all the high-security inmates that we have now.”