KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
The City of Leavenworth approved a resolution Tuesday offering a formal statement on its position that CoreCivic needs a special use permit to operate an ICE detention facility in Leavenworth.
It’s been an ongoing topic of discussion, and when the company withdrew its special use permit application earlier this month, that meant all public hearings scheduled were canceled.
That didn’t stop dozens of residents from showing up Tuesday to voice their opposition to the ICE detention facility and CoreCivic’s operation of it.
“If you get anyone else to run the ICE facility, let them do it,” said Shari Rich, a former employee at the Leavenworth Detention Center, which CoreCivic owned and operated before it closed in 2021 and no longer housed prisoners. “It has to be better than CoreCivic.”
Rich says she worked for CoreCivic for 13 years and currently works in corrections, just with a different company.
Her friend and former colleague, Marcia Levering, drove three hours from Nebraska to be at Tuesday night’s meeting.
“I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, it’s just a long, long road to recovery,” Levering said.
Levering shared her story of an inmate attacking her on February 6, 2021, only 10 months into her job with CoreCivic.
She says it started because the Leavenworth Detention Center was short-staffed, and someone opened the wrong door, letting an inmate out instead of her.
“The inmate came out, threw boiling water at my face, and I somehow ended up on the ground immediately,” Levering said.
She retold her story for the meeting’s audience members and city commissioners during the public comment portion of the meeting.
“I was stabbed four times,” Levering said. “Once in my right ear, hence the paralysis. Once in my right arm, and twice in my abdomen.”
She uses a cane to walk now.
Levering says even after four years of recovery, some of her injuries, like vertigo will never go away.
There are also invisible scars that will live with her forever, like the lack of trust she has about CoreCivic’s transparency.
“It’s really upsetting,” Levering said. “We were supposed to have a timeline when citizens could come in.”
Others at Tuesday’s meeting shared in Levering’s safety concerns regarding CoreCivic.
In a March 3 tour of the facility, CoreCivic Warden Misty Mackey addressed safety concerns.
“As a warden, it is my number one priority,” Mackey said. “I take that very seriously. It’s a huge responsibility.”
Mackey also spoke to CoreCivic’s reputation as a controversial operator of prisons.
“I’m really sorry for the experiences they have had, and I think again, being in an industry doing what we do, there’s certain risks,” Mackey said.
Multiple community members also urged the city to take legal action against CoreCivic.
“What their actions say is that CoreCivic’s decision makers consider the SUP process and this city disposable,” said Esmie Tseng, communications director for the ACLU of Kansas.
Other advocacy groups like Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation (AIRR) spoke up on behalf of treatment of immigrants Tuesday as well, another main talking point of this conversation.
CoreCivic says it does not need a special use permit to ‘reactivate’ the facility, which is why it withdrew its SUP application.
The city commission met in a closed executive session with the city attorney at the end of Tuesday’s meeting and returned with an announcement about the resolution.
“I’m always glad to see people coming out to advocate for what they believe in, and it was definitely a full house tonight,” said Leavenworth Mayor Holly Pittman. “I appreciate everybody’s opinion and their words tonight.”
Mayor Pittman says the city’s unanimous decision to approve a resolution was to make its stance clear and ensure the city's ordinance is followed.
“It’s become a zoning issue,” Pittman said. “And so tonight, we issued a formal statement saying they need a special use permit to open.”
Pittman says it’s not too late for CoreCivic to go through the proper channels to open.
“I don’t know what’s next, we’ll have to consult our attorneys.”
Neither the city nor CoreCivic has taken legal action against the other, but residents are keeping their eyes on both in case things change.
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