Kansas officials meet secretly to offer $150,000 settlement for Lansing prison death

TO: ANNA KAMINSKI
Kansas reflector

TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly and legislative leadership approved a $150,000 settlement Thursday in a lawsuit stemming from a 2023 state prison murder.

Gary Raeburn’s cellmate killed him in January 2023 at Lansing Correctional Facility, and Raeburn’s brother and daughter are suing the state of Kansas, the Kansas Department of Corrections and the state’s prison health care provider, Kansas Centurion.

In a closed meeting, the State Fiscal Board voted unanimously to provide public funds for a confidential settlement of one part of the case that allows Centurion and only Centurion to avoid a jury trial scheduled for July 2025.

The Fiscal Council consists of Kelly and top lawmakers, including Senate President Ty Masterson and House Speaker Dan Hawkins. They approved the settlement Thursday without disclosing any details of the case or terms of the agreement. The settlement motion was filed Wednesday, and a judge had not yet approved the motion as of Thursday afternoon, according to court records.

Rabern was 62 years old at the time of his death. He was serving time for violating Kansas Offender Registry Actwhich was a condition of his probation after he pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping in 2005 in Neosho County and failed to register multiple times.

His cellmate Ladarius Barkers was serving a 15-year sentence after pleading guilty to charges related to robbery and battery. priest in Kansas City, Kansas at the age of 19.

The lawsuit says prison staff disciplined Barkers 100 times between March 2017 and the attack on Raburn. It alleges that the state, the Department of Corrections and Centurion acted negligently and failed to protect Raburn and other inmates.

“Despite foreseeing Barkers’ extensive history of violence, defendants placed Barkers in a cell with Raburn, who was approximately 37 years older than Barkers and physically frail,” court records state.

In March 2023, prosecutors charged Barkers with capital murder. He pleaded not guilty and the case was due to go to trial in March. However, Barkers’ mental state was in question. Court records show he was awaiting admission to Larned State Hospital because the trial was delayed. If the jury finds Barkers guilty unanimously, he could face the death penalty.

Mike Atkinson, an Oklahoma lawyer representing Raeburn’s surviving family, declined to comment because of confidentiality provisions included in the settlement.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach recommended a settlement amount of $150,000 to the financial board. The state’s misdemeanor claims fund falls within the attorney general’s budget.

The governor’s office, the Department of Corrections and the Attorney General’s Office did not respond to Kansas Reflector requests for comment.