1827 - Colonel Henry Leavenworth chose site for new fort.
1875 - Fort chosen as the site for a military prison. Within a year, Ft. Leavenworth housed more than 300 prisoners in a remodeled supply depot building.
1894 - Secretary of War conceded to the House Appropriations Committee that War Department could do without the military prison.
1895 - Congress transferred the military prison from the War Department to the Department of Justice. (July 1)
1895 - July 1 - the Department of Justice took over the plant and inaugurated the United States Penitentiary. Commandant of the military prison, James V. Pope. Warden of the USP, James W. French.
1896 - House Judiciary Committee recommended that the facility be replaced.
1896 - June 10 - the Congress authorized a new federal penitentiary.
1897 - Spring (March) - Warden French marched prisoners every morning two and one-half miles from Ft. Leavenworth to the new site of the federal penitentiary. (Work went on for two and one-half decades).
1899 - July 1 - Robert W. McClaughry was appointed Leavenworth's 2nd Warden.
1901 - November 10 - Joseph Waldrupe was the first correctional officer to be killed (records dating back to 1901) in the line of duty at Leavenworth.
1903 - Enough space was under roof to permit the first 418 prisoners to move into the new federal penitentiary.
1904 - First Cell house completed
1906 - February 1, all prisoners had been transferred to the new facility, and the War Department appreciatively accepted the return of its prison.
1910 - May, the Attorney General approved construction of a separate cellblock for females on the penitentiary grounds - plan was later abandoned.
1913 - June, T. W. Morgan, editor of a newspaper in the small Kansas town of Ottawa, was appointed Leavenworth's 3rd Warden.
1919 - Construction of the cellblocks completed.
1926 - Construction of the shoe shops completed.
1928 - Construction of the brush and broom factory completed.
1930 - May - the Bureau of Prison's became a federal agency within the Department of Justice.
1930 - September 5 - Carl Panzram becomes the first to be executed (records dating back to 1927) by hanging at Leavenworth.
1934 - December 11 - President Franklin Roosevelt authorized the first federal prison industries as a public corporation.
1938 - August 12 - Robert Suhay and Glenn Applegate the first double execution (records dating back to 1927) by hanging at Leavenworth.
Fort Leavenworth replaces its century-old prison with high-tech facility
Michael S. Anderson msand@erols.com
Sun, 17 Nov 2002 06:21:49 -0800
-- [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ] ------------------------------------------------------------------ Military discipline Fort Leavenworth replaces its century-old prison with high-tech facility 11/16/2002 By Chris Grenz The Capital-Journal When the 450 inmates at the U.S. military's new $68 million maximum-security prison go to sleep at night, it is quiet. That wasn't the case at the 127-year-old facility that the military's most-hardened criminals were moved out of last month at Fort Leavenworth. No, at the old building -- nicknamed "The Castle" -- the sounds of inmates and guards shouting, metal doors slamming, and occasionally restraints jingling floated through the eight-story facility. Besides some peace and quiet, at the new prison the inmates also have air conditioning. And a state-of-the-art climate control system keeps them comfortable in the winter, too. "The inmates particularly like this a lot better than the other," said Lt. Col. Peter Grande, chief of staff for the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks on the grounds of historic Fort Leavenworth. But don't get the wrong idea. Despite modern amenities in the new 515-bed facility, it is still a prison. "We're not making it a country club," Grande said. "But you have to make it where it's cost effective and it meets your rehabilitation goals. Almost every inmate here will be released back to society, so you want them to go through a rehabilitation program. One of our objectives of the Army corrections system is to return inmates as a better citizen upon release. We do that through rehabilitation. If you're in an environment that's not comfortable, he won't try to change." Doin' time One of the best changes in the new facility, Grande said, is that rather than cell doors with metal bars, the new cells have solid doors with a window. The solid doors block out noise, making the cells more comfortable, especially for sleeping at night. But there are other changes as well. And they aren't just for the prisoners, he said. "You also have people that work there," Grande said. "If you don't have the working conditions comfortable for the people that work there, they're not going to be happy campers either." The new facility has a high-tech security system. Rather than relying on guard towers and tall rock walls, the new prison is outfitted with scads of closed-circuit television monitors. Outside, the prison is ringed by two 14-foot fences topped with razor wire. The fences are equipped with an intrusion detection system. Contrary to its name, the system will set off an alarm if someone tries to climb or cut through the fence to get out. Cameras will automatically begin recording that sector and guards, who are on roving patrol, will respond immediately. The American Correctional Association continuously has accredited the disciplinary barracks since 1978. Next summer, the association will evaluate the new facility, which must meet or exceed more than 450 standards to be accredited. The city of Leavenworth is no stranger to prisons. There are four prisons in the metro area -- a federal maximum-security prison, a state correctional facility at Lansing, a privately owned and operated prison called Corrections Corporation of America and the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks. The prison population counting all four is more than 5,000 inmates. The prison connection is so strong that the Leavenworth Tourism Bureau uses the prison theme in its marketing materials, which include the slogan "Doin' Time in Leavenworth." Rehabilitation Last week, there were 437 prisoners at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, all of whom were men. Women are sent to the Navy's consolidated brig at Miramar, San Diego. Enlisted personnel who are sentenced to seven years or more and all officers convicted of a crime are sent to Fort Leavenworth. Enlisted personnel with a shorter sentence serve their time at regional confinement facilities. They come from every branch of the U.S. military, and they have been sentenced for crimes ranging from murder to mail fraud. They are in a military prison because they violated the uniform code of military justice, which is a separate justice system for military personnel. The new prison at Fort Leavenworth sits on 51 acres on the northern part of the post. Medium- and minimum-security areas have large open areas where inmates can spend free time. In some cases, inmates are allowed to use a gymnasium, baseball field and weight-lifting area when supervised by military police. A Special Housing Unit also is part of the complex. Referred to as the SHU, the unit can accommodate up to 95 maximum-security and protective-custody inmates, who are restricted to their cells for up to 23 hours a day. An execution area has been designated for military inmates convicted to die by lethal injection. Six inmates are on death row. For those who will leave, there is an extensive vocational training program to help inmates find jobs upon release. Also, there are treatment programs within the prison that are used to maintain discipline, as well as reduce recidivism rates. "We have a charter to do it," Grande said. "The military has made it a priority to rehabilitate inmates. We put resources toward that." 'The Castle' The barracks have operated at Fort Leavenworth since 1875. The prison was opened after the secretary of war called attention to the unethical treatment of military prisoners at stockades and state penitentiaries. The Castle, so named for its imposing appearance, was the centerpiece of the prison. A massive, dome-shaped brick building, it has eight wings that could house up to 1,500 inmates in a high-rise setup that towered eight stories above the ground. The old barracks sits on 12 rolling acres along the Missouri River and is framed by a rock wall varying from 14 to 41 feet high. Researchers and engineers will decide what to do with the old complex. Demolition hasn't been ruled out. Planning for the new prison, which can hold considerably fewer inmates, began in 1994. "Since 1994 on, the criteria to get here has changed to divert people from coming here with the understanding that we were building a smaller prison," Grande said. Moving day Moving hundreds of inmates across the Army post was a slow and systematic process that took about a week, Grande said. Military police from Fort Hood, Texas, came to Kansas to augment the nearly 600 workers who normally staff the prison. Officials moved the inmates by custody grade. There are five different custody grades assigned to inmates as an administrative tool to indicate the kind of supervision and restraints required. These grades range from installation trusty to maximum custody. Guards started with the most minimum-security inmates, providing them with an orientation to such areas as the dining and laundry rooms. "You don't want to bring them all over and on the first day (and ) find out that your sewer system doesn't work," Grande said. >From there, the guards worked their way up to the prisoners requiring the most supervision. Finally, on Oct. 5, the last of the maximum-security prisoners were taken o= ver. "It went very well," Grande said of the move. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Chris Grenz can be reached at (785) 295-1190 or cgrenz@cjonline.com. Prison population There are about 450 inmates confined at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks on the grounds of Fort Leavenworth. The prisoners are all male, are both officers and enlisted personnel and are criminals from all five branches of the U.S. military who have been convicted by a court-martial. The average age of the inmates is 34, and the average sentence is just more than 19 years. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ =A9 Copyright 2002 Morris Digital Works and The Topeka Capital-Journal. Please read our Privacy Policy. | Learn more about this site. Contact us. | Advertise with us. -- Michael S. Anderson http://www.michaelsopinionpage.com
The inner walls of the mess hall were painted with western scenery by Walt Disney.