Leavenworth's New Oversight Board for CoreCivic Facility

0:00It's April 30th. Welcome to Kansas News Today, powered by AI. Leavenworth, Kansas, just launched a community oversight committee for Core Civic's Midwest Regional Reception Center. It's called the Core Civic Community Relations Advisory Board with 14 members, pulling in city officials, religious leaders, the facility warden, and local folks. They held their first meeting recently, but it was mostly a get-to-know-you session to lay out the basics. Moving forward, the group aims to check compliance with the special use permit, make sure inmates get due process and humane treatment, and keep. Everyone's safe inside the facility. City manager Scott Peterson says they're still nailing down meeting times, places, and frequency, but expect details by week's end. All sessions will follow the Kansas Open Meetings Act. Some locals wondered why this board wasn't set up before the permit got approved. Peterson explained, it took time to align attorneys from both the city and Core Civic on that 17th requirement, building on the first 16.

1:01They'd already agreed to. It's all about getting buy-in to avoid core battles. Next meetings agenda is locked in. They'll review the Open Meetings Act for compliance and dive into the permit's 17 requirements. The city set up a webpage where you can sign up for agendas and check meeting minutes. City enforcement stays strong on the permit, with this board purely advisory. Core Civic's been open with operations info from day one, and so far, no major hiccups reported. Keep an eye on that site for updates as they roll.