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A bipartisan group of Missouri lawmakers wants more oversight over the prison system — as deaths in custody reach their highest level in state history, and watchdogs warn of drugs behind bars.
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Deaths in Missouri prisons have increased in number despite a drop in the number of people incarcerated. The Missouri Department of Corrections says says in-custody fatalities are mainly due to natural causes among an aging, sicker prison population.
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Thousands of people took over the small town of Sedalia, Missouri, on this day in 1974 for the Ozark Music Festival, a party full of nudity, drugs and rock 'n' roll music. Half a century later, people still talk about the lore from that hot wild weekend. Plus: One very fluffy prison resident is changing the men around him in a Missouri correction facility.
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The Kansas Department of Corrections is using opioid settlement funds to pay for a program to reduce opioid overdose deaths. Opioids like fentanyl are a major driver of rapidly rising overdose deaths in Kansas. Also, headlines from across the metro.
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Health care services in Missouri prisons are declining, according to a prison reform advocacy group. The nonprofit says providers are leaving, emergency care is getting denied, and 66 residents have died this year.
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An amendment proposed by Republican state Rep. Ben Baker of Neosho added adults into the “Missouri Child and Adolescent Protection Act," a House bill originally designed to bar minors from accessing puberty blockers, hormones and gender-affirming surgeries.
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The bill directs the Missouri Department of Corrections to establish a nursery within a women’s correctional facility by July 2025, and allow incarcerated women to stay with their newborns for their first 18 months.
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Kansans with substance use problems say they are falling through the cracks of a legal system that’s more concerned with punishing them than getting them sober. And, a transmission line that would deliver wind energy from southwest Kansas to other parts of the country has some Missouri farmers concerned about the use of eminent domain to complete the project.
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The Correctional Center Nursery Program would allow women who give birth while incarcerated the chance to stay with their newborns in prison for up to 18 months. Nurseries for incarcerated mothers are shown to reduce recidivism and have long-term benefits for babies.
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At 43 years, Kevin Strickland served Missouri's longest wrongful conviction sentence. He and fellow exoneree Ricky Kidd share plans to raise awareness and prevent others from similar fates.
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Kansas prisons were hotbeds of coronavirus infections early in the pandemic, but vaccinations appear to have protected those inmates living in close quarters.
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The nurses work at 21 Missouri jails and prisons spread throughout the state, including facilities in Kansas City, St. Louis, Jefferson City, Cameron and Fulton.