KDOC
Current and former staff of Ellsworth Correctional Facility (ECF) were joined by state legislators, correctional officials from around the state, and a host of
guests from the Ellsworth area to celebrate the facility’s 25th year anniversary on Friday, June 21, 2013.
The history of the medium-security facility was recounted in a ceremony held in ECF’s Spiritual Life Center. Visitors were given a tour of the facility, and a cookout for the guests was held at the entrance.
The facility was heralded for its influence in the community, and vice versa.
“It was the salvation of this town,” recalled Bev Connelly, a long-time employee of Citizens’ State Bank, who was instrumental in the drive to attract the facility to Ellsworth. Connelly told the audience that in the early 1980s, a business in the Ellsworth area decided to relocate elsewhere, taking more than 700 jobs with
it.
“We saw that bringing the prison was an opportunity to make Ellsworth a more viable economic community,” said Connelly. “It has opened many doors to make this a thriving community, to bring many people to Ellsworth, and to give people who want to stay in Ellsworth a chance to do it.”
Connelly recounted the efforts to convince the state legislature that the small town would provide a good location for a new prison. She told how members of the community visited the state capitol to lobby on behalf of the town.
Warden Dan Schnurr welcomed current state Representative Steve Johnson (Assaria) and state Senator Terry Bruce (Hutchinson), as well as wardens of four other facilities around the state.
Former ECF warden Johnnie Goddard, currently Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) Deputy Secretary of Facilities Management, recognized the more than 30 people in attendance who were employed by the facility at the time it opened in 1988.
“ECF was the beginning of a career for a lot of people who make Ellsworth their home,” said Goddard, who served as ECF warden from 2007-2011. “It’s more
than just a place to work – those people are involved in the school and their church, and they have families in the town, and they are making a difference in other peoples’ lives.
“Ellsworth continues to embrace ECF after all these years, making it a great place to work. And today we are the community; we are part of the foundation.”
Secretary of Corrections Ray Roberts, ECF warden from 1999-2003, expressed his gratitude to the community for making the facility a great place to work.
“Working in this business is challenging and it’s difficult, and not everyone can do it,” said Roberts. “For you to have done it for as many years as you have, as well as you have, is remarkable. You have not just kept a safe, secure facility for offenders, but you have changed hearts and lives in the process.”
“I want to say thank you to each person who has helped to make 25 successful years possible,” said Schnurr, who followed Goddard as warden in 2011. “From volunteers to line staff to administrative staff to deputy wardens and to community leaders and family members, we can’t do it alone. This is a tribute to you all.”