Marty Sauers never considered a career in corrections. That is, until his wife, Cherie, suggested it.

Sauers, who graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Arts degree in public relations/journalism, originally thought he would have a career as a lobbyist for the Coors Brewing Co. But when that fell through, he moved home and began working at the Independent Salt Co. in Kanopolis.

But after several years on the job, his wife asked him to consider applying at Ellsworth Correctional Facility. He didn’t really think too much about it at first — but she persisted.

And persisted.

And on March 27, 1989, Marty started his new role as a corrections officer at Ellsworth Correctional Facility.

That was more than 30 years ago. Today, Sauers oversees ECF, one of the state’s nine correctional facilities, which houses maximum, medium and minimum custody inmates through the Kansas Department of Corrections. To date, the prison houses roughly 913 offenders.

“I think my PR/journalism background has served me well,” he said. “Working in corrections can be challenging, and communication is a big part of the job,” Sauers said. “Another important part of the job is modeling positive behavior to (inmates) because we want them to become law-abiding, tax-paying citizens when they get out. That’s our goal.”

After a few years as a corrections officer, Marty moved into counseling. Eventually, he worked as a unit team manager and a classification administrator. In January 2014, Sauers was promoted to deputy warden. By June 2016, he was appointed to warden — the prison’s chief administrative role.

Sauers said the facility has enjoyed a long and successful history because of his predecessors like former ECF Warden Michael Nelson and former deputy warden, George Jones, who set the tone early on regarding offender management.

“From the beginning, Warden Mike Nelson and deputy warden George Jones really developed that mindset on how it was (operated),” he said. “And that success is something that started from the beginning. You treat offenders firm, fair and with respect.”

Another person who influenced his career was Johnnie Goddard, who started his KDOC career in 1985 at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility. Goddard later transferred to ECF, where he befriended Sauers. Eventually, Goddard served as warden at ECF from 2007-2011. He would later become KDOC deputy secretary.

“He was always a big influence on my career,” he said.“He was definitely my mentor.

Over time, Sauers has seen several changes in correctional methods since starting his career at ECF. But one of the biggest, he said, is the focus on ensuring offenders can successfully re-enter the real world after leaving prison.

“The past 10 years, the KDOC has spent much more time and resources attempting to prepare offenders for successful release through effective cognitive-based programming (and) vocational and educational programming. Our partnership with Barton Community College has also been a positive part of providing these services to ECF.”

“What people don’t realize is that 98 percent of offenders will be out. It’s important to do everything we can to make sure they succeed and don’t come back ... that’s the governor’s goal, that’s the secretary’s goal, and it’s our goal.”

As warden, Sauers oversees another important part of the facility’s mission, which is actually two-fold. Not only is the prison responsible for providing security to safely and effectively contain and supervise inmates, but for also keeping the community and its residents safe.

“Ninety percent of these guys just want to serve out their time,” he said.“Their No.-1 goal is to serve their time and get out to see their families, and they want to get out safe and sound. They don’t want to cause any problems, and just do what they’re supposed to do. It’s that 10 percent. But what we hope for is that 10 percent slowly moves away from reoffending. That’s when you realize,‘Hey. We made a difference.’”

While other facilities have experienced security issues, ECF hasn’t. Sauers said he credits that to his staff and the prison’s chief of security Major Robert Murrell.

“He doesn’t take shortcuts in security,” he said. “I can’t say enough.”

“The neat thing about ECF is, it has the highest number of medium-high inmates, and we have very few problems ... When we do have problems, we take care of them before they become a bigger problem. We’ve always done that. It’s just been a good facility with a good staff.”

Just days before he leaves Ellsworth, Sauers feels good about recent increases in correctional officer pay. Support in Topeka not just helped salaries jump from $15.75 an hour to $18.26, but expanded the candidate pool.

“I’m glad that over the last three months, there’s been a pay increase,” he said. “At one time, we were 28 bodies down. Now, we have just five or six openings. It makes me feel good. We had a lot of staff working a lot of hours, and the staff has been so good. We have a lot of good, hard-working people.”

Looking back on his career, Sauers admits it’s been a good one. So the decision to retire wasn’t one he came to easily. Eventually, though, he realized it was time.

“I turned 62 in February, and I felt that I wanted to enjoy life while I still felt good. My wife retired, and when your wife retires, it gets harder and harder to go to work. You know, we just want to enjoy traveling, and spending winters in Arizona..

“At ECF, we really are family. There’s something to be said about how in law enforcement we have each other’s backs. I will miss that, but I have made a lot of lasting relationships.”

Sauers’ last day is Friday, and his replacement has yet to be named. The department also is in need of wardens at its Norton and Lansing prisons.

Doug Lawson is deputy warden at Ellsworth.