Topeka ? Kansas authorities are tightening security at El Dorado Correctional Facility after last month’s prison break.

But officials say the escape had more to do with outside assistance than a problem with security at the lockup.

Authorities have accused Amber Goff, 23, a former prison guard, with helping the two inmates escape from a recreation yard Oct. 28.

“We are confident this escape could not have occurred without the outside assistance,” said Chuck Simmons, deputy secretary of the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Simmons’ comments came during a recent hearing before a legislative committee.

Simmons didn’t mention Goff by name, but authorities have accused her of helping Steven A. Ford, 26, and Jesse L. Bell, 33, flee. The three were captured Oct. 31 in Grants, N.M.

The breakout represented the first escape from the maximum security prison since it started operations in 1991.

Authorities say the inmates escaped from an exercise area where they were allowed five times a week. Guards arrived within minutes after the inmates cut the fence, setting off an alarm.

Simmons said two small pairs of wirecutters, which were thrown in the facility, were used to cut the inside fences. An outside fence was probably cut open by “the outside person,” he said.

Prison officials will strengthen the fencing with more razor wire and will staff a nearby guard tower that had been left empty during the years to redeploy guards elsewhere, he said.

Legislators said some have complained that allowing female guards to oversee male inmates could lead to inappropriate relationships and attempted escapes.

Another high-profile escape in 2006 involved a woman who helped a murderer escape in a dog crate from the Lansing Correctional Facility. Toby Young had been running a dog-training program at the prison where she met John Manard. The two eventually were caught in Tennessee.

But Simmons said there was nothing wrong with having female officers supervise male inmates and vice versa.

It’s when inappropriate behavior occurs that leads to trouble, he said. And he said that can happen in opposite sex or same-sex situations.

“It’s the individual, not the gender,” he said.

“I think you are correct,” state Rep. Bob Bethel, R-Alden, said.