The exterior of the Lansing Correctional Center is seen Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017, in Lansing, Kan. Kansas corrections officials said Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017, that they are considering replacing the state's largest prison with a modern facility that would be safer and cheaper to maintain. (Mark Rountree/The Leavenworth Times via AP)

Topeka ? Kansas is considering having a private company build a new prison and lease it back to the cash-strapped state to replace its oldest and largest lockup, an idea that some critics see as a step toward privatizing the entire corrections system.

Corrections Secretary Joe Norwood announced Thursday that the state will solicit proposals from private companies to build the new prison in Lansing. Corrections officials said the new facility would be safer and cheaper to maintain than the existing one.

Some legislators were immediately skeptical of a lease-purchase arrangement. Republican Sam Brownback’s administration has argued previously that it doesn’t need lawmakers’ prior approval for such deals.

“This is a back door to privatization of our corrections agency,” said state Sen. Laura Kelly, of Topeka, the ranking Democrat on the Senate budget committee.

Norwood’s announcement did not say how the state would finance the project, only that the Department of Corrections expects it to be “budget neutral” because of greater efficiencies from operating a modern prison.

Spokesman Todd Fertig later said the department is “exploring” a lease-purchase option. Several legislators said Norwood was more definitive in statements to them and suggested a lease could last between 25 and 40 years.

Norwood’s announcement came out of the blue for many lawmakers, who are starting to tackle projected budget shortfalls totaling nearly $1.1 billion through June 2019. The state’s adult inmate population has slightly exceeded the prison system’s capacity for at least a year; the Lansing prison has space for 2,405 male prisoners and had 2,366 as of Wednesday.

Fertig said the oldest part of the Lansing prison, dating to the 1860s will be mothballed but preserved, while the other parts will be razed. He said all of Lansing’s inmates will remain within the state prison system while the project proceeds.

The oldest part of the facility still has long rows of cells in tiers — rather than square pods of cells in modern prisons, so that all of the cells are harder to see and monitor at once. Repairs have become more costly, Fertig said, and building a new facility will allow the state to upgrade its security systems as well.

State Sen. Steve Fitzgerald, a Leavenworth Republican whose district includes the prison, said the project also could increase the state’s prison capacity, improve staffing and boost pay for some workers. Fitzgerald, who was briefed on the project several weeks ago, said inmates and prison workers “deserve a better facility.”

“My understanding is that while we’re going to gain efficiencies from this, nobody is going to be fired or lose their job,” Fitzgerald said. “They’ve got that taken care of, and in fact, there’s going to be some new jobs as part of the lease that are going to be better paid.”

But Rebecca Proctor, executive director of the largest union for state employees, questioned whether the state could achieve significant savings without reducing the prison’s staff.

“I’d really want to understand where all the purported efficiencies are coming from,” Proctor said.

Kansas used bonds to finance the construction of its newest maximum-security prison outside El Dorado, requiring legislators’ prior approval. The prison opened in 1991.

Fertig said a request for proposals for a new prison will be issued within the next month. The agency expects the project to take three years.

If the department leases the new prison, Fertig said, the workers will remain state employees. But House Minority Leader Jim Ward, a Wichita Democrat, questioned whether the company owning the prison would give up oversight of its operations.