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Winfield Correctional Facility (WCF)

by David Thompson — last modified May 10, 2024 (10:37 PM)

Winfield Correctional Facility (WCF)
Wichita Work Release
401 S. Emporia St.
Wichita, KS 67202
Phone: (316) 265-5211 ext. 200 or ext. 232
Fax: (316) 262-5936

Contact Information

by David Thompson — last modified May 10, 2024 (10:37 PM)

Winfield Correctional Facility (WCF) Mailing Address Winfield Correctional Facility 1806 Pinecrest Circle Winfield, KS 67156
Administration
Warden Paul Snyder
Deputy Warden Mary Nelson
Chief of Security Maj. Mike Jones
Business Manager Morea Simmons
Human Resources Manager Julie St. Peter
WCF Main Phone: (620) 221-6660
Division Extension
Administration: 56019
Admissions & Discharge: 56200
Accounts Payable: 56012 or 56011
Business Manager: 56013
Chaplain Services: 56026
Classification Administrator: 56040
Detail Office: 56219
Human Resources: 56021 or 56020
Inmate Accounts/Skylight Cards: 56011
Inmate Telephones: 56015
Parole Services: 56024
Records: 56049 or 56050
Security: 56038
Training: 56035 or 56014
Visitation: 56022
WCF Main Fax: (620) 221-9229
Records Fax: (620) 221-0106
Wichita Work Release Facility (WWRF) Mailing Address: 401 S. Emporia St. Wichita, KS 67202
Phone: (316) 265-5211
Fax: (316) 262-5936

History

by David Thompson — last modified May 10, 2024 (10:37 PM)

History
1984 Winfield Pre-Release Center opened on the grounds of the Winfield State Hospital, providing primarily pre-release programming services. The population capacity was 141 inmates.
1989 Having expanded both in terms of size and facility mission, the name of the facility was changed to Winfield Correctional Facility. The population capacity was 290 inmates.
1996 Winfield State Hospital closed. As a result, Winfield Correctional Facility absorbed many buildings and the infrastructure and support units from the hospital. During the transition, an additional dorm was added, increasing the capacity to 522 inmates. In September, the administrations of Winfield Correctional Facility and Wichita Work Release Facility were combined.
1998 A therapeutic community substance abuse treatment program was implemented.
2000 InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI), a 12-18 month, values-based pre-release program, began operation in March with the capacity to serve 158 inmates.
2002 In June, IFI was transferred from Winfield to Ellsworth Correctional Facility.
2003 The therapeutic community program was closed effective January 31, 2003.
2004 The population capacity was increased to 556 inmates.
2007 Due to renovations, the capacity decreased to 554 inmates.
2009 Due to budget constraints, B Unit was closed in early 2009, reducing the capacity to 378. It was re-opened in June 2009, bringing the capacity back to 554 inmates.
2010 Pioneer Balloon opened a private industry onsite, employing up to 12 inmates at minimum wage jobs.
2011 WCF contracts with the Cowley County Jail to house up to 50 inmates in response to population increases within the KDOC.
2013 The Cowley County Jail contract ended.

Overview

Winfield Correctional Facility’s (WCF) capacity is 554 minimum-security adult male residents. Capacity at Wichita Work Release Facility (WWRF) is 250 adult male residents.

WCF is located in Cowley County in south central Kansas. The facility is located on the north side of the city of Winfield at the site of the former Winfield State Hospital and Training Center.

WCF serves a re-entry function designed to provide a smooth transition from an institutional setting to the community for residents expected to be paroled in the near future.

Wichita Work Release Facility, in Wichita, provides selected residents the opportunity for community reintegration prior to their actual release from custody. Residents are housed in the highly structured residential setting and are expected to become gainfully employed on a full-time basis in the community.

As with other facilities under the management of the Secretary of Corrections, education, health services and food services are provided through contracts with private vendors.

Programs

The following are programs and services available at Winfield Correctional Facility:

As with other facilities under the management of the Secretary of Corrections, education, health services and food services are provided through contracts with private vendors.

Programs

Pre-Release Vocational (Aramark) GED

Correctional Industries

Aramark……………………………. 6 slots
Pioneer Balloon………………….. 12 slots

Community Service Work

Inmates at Winfield Correctional Facility provide thousands of hours of community service work each year to non-profit entities after certification that the service work will not displace community-available jobs. This program provides labor for those approved agencies and provides inmates with valuable job skills and work ethics that they can utilize upon release. Long-term community service work includes:

  • Butler County
  • City of Arkansas City
  • City of El Dorado
  • City of Wichita
  • City of Winfield
  • Cowley County Humane Society
  • Lion’s Club Sight Project
  • Kansas Department of Transportation
  • Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
  • Strother Field
  • USD 465

Visiting Information

Once an inmate is eligible for visiting privileges, the inmate is responsible for ensuring that his visitors receive the necessary paperwork to register as visitors. For more information, please review IMPP 10-113D: Offender Visitation.

Visitation Schedule

In-Person Visitation
(Updated April 7, 2021)

Visitors must be approved through the KDOC application process and create an account on www.ICSolutions.com; and be approved on that site as well. Once approved, visits can be scheduled through the visitation scheduler at www.ICSolutions.com for video visit and in person visitation. All visitors including minors must be approved through ICSolutions and be scheduled for the visit date. Visitors that arrive that have not been scheduled on www.ICSolutions.com will be denied. Visitation must be scheduled 72 hours in advance for WCF and no sooner than three weeks prior to the visit day.

WCF Residents are scheduled visitation based on incentive level and last name. Please be aware of the days that residents are allowed to visit based on these factors. Residents will be able to tell you their incentive level. Staff cannot release this information to the public. If a visit is scheduled for a resident on a day he is not allowed to visit, the visit will be cancelled by staff.

Visit days are as follows:

Level 1-Fridays or Mondays
Level 2 (last name A-K) Friday or Saturday
Level 2 (last name L-Z) Sunday or Monday
Level 3-Saturday or Sunday
Restriction of Privilege Residents can visit on Mondays only
Visitation times for each day are as follows:

Fridays or Mondays from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Saturdays or Sundays at 7:00-9:00 a.m., or 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m., or 1:00-3:00 p.m.

Residents may only have one visit scheduled per weekend; within the time blocks established above. There is a cap of 25 residents visiting per 2-hour time block. Each resident can have a maximum of two visitors attend the visit (two adult visitors or one adult and one minor)

Visitors are responsible for scheduling visitation based on the dates/times provided and the resident’s incentive level. Visits scheduled on a date not permitted for that resident will be cancelled by staff in advance. Visitors must check in within the first hour of the time block, or the visitor will be denied. All visitors 2 years of age and older must wear a mask. If you arrive without a mask, you will be allowed to depart to get a mask as long as you are checked back in during the first hour of the visitation block.

There is no food allowed at this time and the vending machines will not be in use.

All visits will be non-contact. No embracing, hugging, kissing, etc. will be permitted.

Visitors/Residents can choose to visit inside or outside.

Inside visitation will have see-through protection barriers in place between the visitor and resident. Outdoor visitation will be socially distanced and monitored by staff but no physical barriers are in place.

Please see Visitation In-Person — (ks.gov)

Holiday Visitation

Information about visiting during holidays

Resident visitation at Kansas correctional facilities will be provided on the following four state holidays: Christmas Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Thanksgiving Day. If either Christmas Day or the Fourth of July holiday falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, or other day where a facility has regularly scheduled visitation, the holiday will be incorporated within the regular visitation schedule and an additional visitation day will NOT be scheduled.

Resident visitation will NOT be provided on the following state holidays, unless the holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, or other day where the facility has regularly scheduled visitation: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day and the day after Thanksgiving.

Visiting - Food Guidelines

  • Vending machines are available onsite, with food items, snacks, and beverages.
  • A microwave is available for use onsite.
  • Vending machines and microwaves are to be used only by visitors. These are restricted areas for offenders.
  • Food not consumed during the visit shall be discarded or removed by the visitor and may not be reintroduced.
  • Beverages must be purchased from the vending machines in the Visitor Center only.

Visiting - General Rules

CONTRABAND NOTICE

Persons entering facility grounds are subject to search for contraband in accordance with applicable statutes.

KSA 21-5914. Traffic in contraband in a correctional institution.

(a) Traffic in contraband in a correctional institution is introducing or attempting to introduce into or upon the grounds of any correctional institution or taking, sending, attempting to take or attempting to send from any correctional institution or any unauthorized possession while in any correctional institution or distributing within any correctional institution, any item without the consent of the administrator of the correctional institution.

(c) (1) Traffic in contraband in a correctional institution of firearms, ammunition, explosives or a controlled substance which is defined in KSA 2009 Supp 21-36.01 and amendments thereto, is a severity level 5, non-person felony.

(2) Traffic in any contraband, as defined by rules and regulations adopted by the secretary, in a correctional institution by an employee of a correctional institution is a severity level 5, non-person felony.

Tobacco, tobacco products (such as lighters, chewing tobacco, etc.), cell phones, pagers, cameras, etc., are considered contraband and must be secured in vehicles. Visitors who bring these items into the visiting building will be denied a visit for that visiting period.

Facility Location
The facility is located on the north end of Winfield. From 9th and Main streets, travel east to College Street then turn north. At the Veteran’s Cemetery, turn east. Stay to the left around the cemetery. At the top of the hill, where the flags are located, keep to the left. Travel past the Administration Building and park on the north side of that building in the visitor parking area. The visiting center is located on the first floor of Fern Building.

The facility address is: WCF, 1806 Pinecrest Circle, Winfield, KS. 67156.
The facility telephone number is (620) 221-6660.

For directions, follow this link to Map Quest, where you can type in your address and the facility’s address for detailed driving and distance information: http://www.mapquest.com

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Public Transportation
There is no dependable public transportation service such as a taxi cab or bus system in the Winfield area.

All WCF visitors are advised to pre-arrange transportation to and from the facility grounds. There is no waiting area for persons providing transportation. All vehicles are to be secured while on facility grounds. Anyone who is not visiting is required to exit facility grounds. Upon conclusion of the visiting period, visitors will be asked to depart the facility grounds. Please ensure transportation arrangements are made accordingly.

Entering Facility Grounds for Visitation
Visitors park their vehicle in visitor’s parking area located northeast of the visiting area. Please lock all vehicle doors and proceed to the visitors center in Fern Building. Visitors receive additional instructions for check in procedures at that location.

Handicap Assistance
Visitors who are handicapped and need assistance with a wheelchair, walker, etc., should have someone with them notify the visiting officer who will ensure that proper assistance is obtained. If the visitor is alone, the visitor should notify the patrol officer.

Check-in Process
Visitors must arrive on WCF property no earlier than 15 minutes before scheduled visiting hours begin and must check in to the visiting center no later than 60 minutes before visiting hours end.

Please enter through the south door of Fern Building.

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All visitors must produce valid picture identification
All visitors must produce a valid picture I.D. Picture Identification may include a driver’s license, passport or other form of government I.D. Children under the age of 18 may utilize an official birth certificate issued by the department of vital statistics from the state they were born as proof of identification. Visitors without proper identification will not be allowed to visit.

Upon approval of the visit, visitors are required to secure their coat and other personal belongings.

Hats, coats, jackets, shawls, wraps, etc., must be hung on the coat rack.
Purses, bags and other loose property must be secured in provided lockers.
Visitors are not allowed to remove items from lockers after securing their personal belongings until they have completed the visit.
Visitors are permitted to retain a maximum of $30 in change and bills for vending machines. Tokens are not utilized at WCF.
All items purchased from vending machines must be consumed during the visit or disposed of at the conclusion of the visit.
Food removed from the visiting area will not be allowed back into the visiting area at a later time.
Visitors are required to submit to a search of their person and property.
Visitors must first clear a walk-through metal detector in three attempts.
If unable to do so, a handheld wand will be used, which must be cleared.
Visitors with non-removable medical devices must provide documentation from a physician and such documentation will be made a part of their visiting record.
Failure to clear search process will result in denial of visiting privileges for that session.
Visitors may be required to submit to more intrusive searches if they are suspected of trafficking contraband into the facility. Refusal to submit to any search may result in a suspension of visiting privileges for up to a year.
Visiting registration must be completed and personal items secured before the offender will be called to visit.
Any person refusing to comply with any part of the check-in process and/or any person making a disturbance during check-in, will be subject to the suspension of visiting privileges pursuant to KAR 44-7-104.

Who May Visit?
Relatives and friends on a resident’s approved visiting list may visit in accordance with the following:

No one under the age of 18 is permitted to visit unless this person is a member of the resident’s immediate family.

Immediate Family is defined as: parents, step-parents, siblings, spouses of siblings, half siblings, step-siblings, children, spouses of children, step-children, grandchildren, step-grandchildren, spouse, parents of spouse, grandparents or any person filled the role of parents de facto with respect to the inmate as confirmed by the Warden or designee upon review of the social history. Nieces, nephews, aunts or uncles are not considered immediate family.

Level I residents and residents on restriction may only visit with immediate family and the person approved as a primary visitor.
Those under 18 who are immediate family members to the resident shall be accompanied by parent or legal guardian. (Other than the resident)
If the parent or legal guardian of a minor child/children is not able to accompany the minor child, he/she will be required to provide an affidavit/notarized statement authorizing an adult to transport and supervise the minor child on the premises of the facility for the purpose of visiting a resident.

Visitors Dress Code
All visitors allowed to visit this facility must be dressed appropriately. The following type of clothing will not be considered appropriate attire for visiting:

See-through clothing
Tank tops
Midriff, strapless or backless garments such as stretch tube tops and halter-tops.
Bare feet
Braless attire (females must wear bras)
High-slit skirts or dresses
Low cut necklines
Unbuttoned shirts
Skirts and shorts ending more than 6” above the knee when seated
Attire with objectionable slogans or logos
Tight fitting clothing or clothing made from spandex
The Shift Supervisor has the authority to deny a visit if the attire is determined to be unsuitable for wear in a correctional facility.

Offender Mail/Personal Property:
Cards, letters and pictures must be addressed and mailed to:

Resident’s Full Name, KDOC#XXXXX
Winfield Correctional Facility
Living Unit (if known)
1806 Pinecrest Circle
Winfield, KS 67156

To send funds to an resident, please see the Inmate Banking page on this site.

Offenders may not receive any items of personal property from visitors, to include mail, pictures, money, etc. Offenders are not allowed to access the vending machines or vending machine area.

Personal property being sent out by the resident and received by visitors must be processed through the visiting officer and must be picked up at the end of the visit. It is the resident’s responsibility to make these arrangements with the property officers in advance of the visiting period.

Personal Contact
No close physical contact between visitor(s) and inmate(s) is permitted other than a short embrace/kiss at the beginning and end of the visit.

Kisses are limited to five seconds in length.
Stroking and fondling is prohibited. (back rubs, neck rubs, inter-tangling of legs while sitting, etc.)
Hand holding – above the table – is the only physical contact authorized during visits.
Visitors and residents must not obscure themselves and must remain in full view of the visiting officer.
Visitors must remain in the visiting center until they are ready to terminate their visit.
A visitor’s departure is a termination of the visit and the visitor will not be allowed to return for the remainder of that day.
Physical contact between residents and children is limited to that which is considered appropriate given the child’s age and relationship to the resident.
Parents/Guardians are responsible for the supervision and behavior of children. Children are not to be left unattended. Visits may be terminated if children are being disruptive.
Only residents with children in the play area are allowed in the play area
Resident contact with visitors other than those on their approved list is prohibited.
Tables and chairs are not to be moved without the authorization of visiting staff.

Restroom Usage and Vending Machines
Visitors and residents must use designated rest rooms in the visiting area with permission from the visiting officer.
Restrooms shall be open to residents at the top of the hour for the first ten minutes
Parents or guardians (other than the resident) must accompany minor children to the rest room and/or vending machines.
Residents are prohibited from entering or accessing the vending machine and/or visitor restroom areas.
Private Visiting
A visiting area is provided for private consultation by attorneys, clergy and/or other persons having a statutory right of privileged communication to permit confidential conversation. Arrangements for this type of visit may be made during normal working hours by contacting the unit team 24 hours prior to the requested day of visit and subject to unit team approval.

Special Visits
Must be requested by the resident to his unit team counselor at least four working days in advance.

Limited to immediate family or primary visitor.
Limited to one special visit every 120 days.
Limited and Non-Contact Visiting
Some residents may be restricted from contact visits. When this occurs, residents are notified of the reason.
Visiting space is limited.
Residents are responsible for scheduling limited and non-contact visits in advance of the visit and for notifying visitors of the non-contact schedule.
A maximum of four visitors are allowed per limited and non-contact visiting session.
Food and beverages are prohibited during limited and non-contact visiting.
Physical contact is strictly prohibited during non-contact visiting and limited during limited-contact visiting.

Violation of visiting regulations may result in suspension of visiting privileges pursuant to KAR 44-7-104.

In the event of any problems or difficulties while visiting, please request assistance from the visiting officer to ask to see the shift supervisor on duty.

Volunteers

Why Volunteer?
A volunteer is one who enters service of his/her own free will. At WCF that service is to selflessly perform acts of kindness and to offer time and talents voluntarily to benefit others, primarily the inmates of WCF. The State of Kansas provides for the basic human needs of food and lodging, in addition to basic educational and vocational services to assist inmates to become productive, law-abiding citizens upon their release. However, due to budgetary constraints, staffing is not available to provide many other services which can benefit offenders. That is where volunteers can greatly assist.

What is Needed?
Activities and programs for which volunteers are needed include:
Art classes – Music – Library assistance

Bible study – Religious activities – Clerical assistance – Counseling

Alcoholics Anonymous – Narcotics Anonymous – Mentoring

Sports – Reaching Out From Within (offender self-help)
If you prefer, you may assist by donating appropriate books, music, DVD’s, or worship-related items (i.e.-communion supplies). You may also donate art supplies, dog food, pet supplies, etc. All donated materials must be given to the Volunteer Coordinator for approval prior to usage by inmates.

How do I volunteer?
There is no minimum time, so whether you are willing to donate a few hours a month or several hours a week, we welcome your interest and assistance. The criteria for becoming a volunteer are:

  • Willingness to serve others selflessly
  • Willing to work in a multi-cultural environment with respect for others
  • Be at least 21 years old
  • Be of good character, willing to model positive citizenship
  • Not be on any inmate's visiting list
  • Have no recent felony convictions
  • Must pass a background check
  • Willing to comply with rules and regulations
  • Willing to complete required training and work under the direct supervision of the facility Chaplain

Warden

Biography Paul Snyder

Paul Snyder was named warden for Winfield Correctional Facility in November 2018 after having served as warden at El Dorado Correctional Facility (EDCF) since April 2018.

Snyder, who previously served as deputy warden at Winfield Correctional Facility, began his career with the KDOC in 1993 as a corrections officer at EDCF. Snyder, who also worked at Ellsworth Correctional Facility, rose steadily through the ranks to become a corrections supervisor, a unit team manager and then deputy warden in 2010. He first served as EDCF’s deputy warden of programs before transitioning into the position of deputy warden of support services. He then was named the deputy warden at the Wichita Work Release Facility before becoming the deputy warden at Winfield Correctional Facility in 2016.

Snyder earned his associate’s degree in administrative justice from Butler County Community College and a bachelor’s degree in human resources and organizational leadership from Rasmussen College