KS DOC – El Dorado Correctional Facility (EDCF)

The El Dorado Correctional Facility is the newest state correctional facility, was constructed as a result of a 1988 class-action lawsuit challenging prison conditions. The facility was originally constructed to house 640 adult male inmates with the potential for future expansion of 725 additional beds. In 1995, a 115-bed, medium-custody dormitory was created by modifying an existing industrial building. In 2001, two additional cell houses were activated at the central unit. EDCF is designed to house special management, maximum- and medium-custody inmates. Inmates assigned to the Central Unit are usually repeat offenders with a history of violent behavior.

EDCF's philosophy is that offenders are sentenced to incarceration as punishment, not for punishment. During an inmate's incarceration, it is our responsibility to increase offenders' abilities and motivations to practice responsible, pro-social, crime-free behavior through the provision of programs and services designed to assist with both risk reduction and reentry efforts.

The largest long-term segregation unit in the state is also at EDCF, with over 350 beds in three cell houses. The inmates in these cell houses are considered to be a threat to the safety or security of EDCF, and are kept in their cells for 23 hours a day. Kansas keeps all of its capital punishment inmates in El Dorado, but executions take place at the Lansing Correctional Facility in Lansing, Kansas.

EDCF has two general population cell houses and one medium-security dormitory. EDCF is administratively linked to two minimum-security units, formerly "honor camps", one in El Dorado and one in Toronto, Kansas. In 2009, the announcement was made that the state would be closing both minimum security units, due to budget constraints. As of 2015, medium and minimum security units in Oswego, Kansas, were administratively part of EDCF.

EDCF houses the most dangerous and recalcitrant inmates assigned to long-term involuntary segregation. Also, all male offenders sentenced to the custody of the Secretary of Corrections are received and processed through the EDCF Reception and Diagnostic Unit (RDU). In RDU, inmates receive orientation and are assigned to a custody classification, appropriate programs and a permanent housing assignment.