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Tuesday, April 26,1994
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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Lawmakers seek more youthful offender options
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — Donna Whiteman, secretary of social and rehabilitation services, told lawmakers yesterday that the state needed to double or triple the number of community programs for youthful offenders rather than incarcerate them.
Whiteman appeared before what has been called a "super conference committee," which is reviewing the present system of juvenile detention. Lawmakers are expressing concern about the amount of time youthful offenders are incarcerated.
"Our system is weak because it lacks community options," Whiteman said. "The reason why we're seeing our youth centers overloaded is that there aren't many other options out there."
The larger-than-usual committee is doing a cram studying job on the youth centers and will try to come up with a recommendation before the Legislature convenes for a three- or four-day wrapup session tomorrow.
The conference committee has six senators and six House members, double the usual number.
Whitman said some youths incarcerated at the centers instead could be monitored through "day reporting." That is an intensive probation system in which local officials have daily contact with juvenile offenders in their communities.
She said it cost $120 a day to keep a juvenile house at one of the state's four juvenile centers, whereas day reporting costs $30 to $40 a day.
Sen. Bob Vancrum, R-Overland Park, said one of his concerns was the
relatively short period of time violent juvenile offenders were confined at the youth centers.
Violent offenders are housed for an average of 12 months, and nonviolent offenders are kept in confinement for a much shorter period of time.
The conference committee also is studying the impact of juvenile offender bills on the system. The Legislature passed a measure, now on Gov. Joan Finney's desk, that would make it a crime for juveniles to possess handguns, a measure that lawmakers say could increase the population at the youth centers.
The committee also is studying the need for additional beds, alternative community programs for juvenile offenders and "aftercare," or a parole system, for youths released from the attention centers.
Finney gets Fort Riley a task force
The Associated Press
FORT RILEY — Gov. Joan Finney named a 37-member task force yesterday to persuade the government to keep Fort Riley open, and she promised an all-out effort to keep the 140-year-old post operating.
"This is truly a historic moment and occasion," she told an audience at the Fort Riley Leader's Club.
"I'm very certain that we will succeed, not because we will give it a good try but because we have to succeed. We will be in there with everything we've got."
in there we everything Finney will head the task force.
"We will see that the future of this base is preserved," she said, adding that although the task force will focus on keeping the post open, it also will work to ease the impact if its effort is unsuccessful.
The future of Fort Riley, home of the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division, has come into question because of defense reductions while the Army continues with plans to eliminate two of its 12 divisions.
In 1993, the Army ranked the military value of its 11 divisional bases in the United States. Fort Riley came in eighth, drawing low marks for its relatively small size and for the difficulty of deploying troops from the post.
Finney said the goals of the task force included:
The report came two years after farmers in the area prevented an attempt to expand the size of the military reservation. The Army had said it needed to add as many as 100,000 acres to improve the training of soldiers.
—Expanding the local economy in Riley and Geary counties by encouraging businesses to move to the area to "pro-
vide some economic cushioning" if the base closes.
Serving as a coordinating group for efforts to retain Fort Riley.
The governor appointed Bob Knight, secretary of commerce and housing, and Merrill Werts, a former state senator and civilian aide to the Army secretary, as vice chairmen of the task force. $
Other members include Joe Dick, state secretary for human resources; Michael Johnston, secretary of transportation, and Charles Warren, president of Kansas Inc. the state's economic development planning agency.
Finney also appointed six legislators, led by Senate Minority Leader Jerry Karr, D-Emporia. The others are: Sen. Lana Oleen, R-Manhattan; Rep. Kent Glasscock, R-Manhattan; Rep. Sheila Hochhauser, D-Manhattan; Rep. Steve Lloyd, R-Palmer, and Rep. Alex Scott, R-Junction City.
Also appointed were John Montgomery, head of the Board of Regents, and Jon Wefold, president of Kansas State University.
The governor also named the chair and president of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry, John Moore and Ed Bruske, as well as two executives, Michael Fuller of United Telephone Co. and Carl Koupal of Western Resources Inc.
Four local government officials were named. They are Roger Maughner, mayor of Manhattan; Karen McCullin, chair of the Riley County Commission; Robert Ritter, mayor of Junction City, and Florence Whitebread, chair of the Geary County Commission.
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