Kansas jail had passed test to house prison inmates

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A state corrections official says a north-central Kansas county jail where four inmates escaped had passed an inspection before it was allowed to house inmates transferred from a state prison.

Four of the 22 men who were sent to the Ottawa County jail from the Ellsworth Correctional Facility escaped Wednesday morning. One inmate was quickly apprehended, but the other three inmates — including a convicted murderer — remain at large.

Department of Corrections official Jeremy Barclay says the agency has criteria that county jails must meet before signing contracts to house state prison inmates. As of Friday, there were 87 inmates being housed in county jails.

Barclay says the state prison system is facing overcrowding and that officials are asking legislators for funds to expand bed space at Ellsworth.