LARNED – To help control COVID-19 in the Kansas prison population, the Kansas Department of Correctional has reopened the former Larned Juvenile Corrections Facility, only now it is operating as an isolated inmate intake unit, said Rebecca Witte, KDOC Central Office public information officer.

“It is an effort to further minimize the risk of spreading the virus,” Witte said. The facility will only take new adult male inmates from all parts of the state.

The process started this past Friday, and as of Monday, six inmates had been transferred to the site, she said. But, more would be coming in the next few days.

Previously, newly admitted inmates would go the KDOC Reception and Diagnostic Center at the El Dorado Correctional Facility. For now, they are coming to Larned first.

They will be kept at Larned for a minimum of 14 days and monitored for symptoms, Witte said. If they are clear, they will go to El Dorado, but if not, they will be treated at Larned.

There are rumors that prisoners from eastern Kansas locations, such as Lansing, were being transferred to Larned and put into general population. Witte said that is not true.