Prison documentary TV show ‘Lockup’ filming in Sedgwick County Jail

A crew with the MSNBC television show “Lockup” will be filming in the Sedgwick County Jail until Oct. 28 for an upcoming episode, officials at the jail said Wednesday.

Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Capt. Jared Schechter said initial filming began Sept. 8.

The show, which has aired on weekends on MSNBC since 2005, billing itself as “MSNBC’s top-rated series,” goes into jails across the country and follows inmates’ stories from their perspective, profiling life in prison.

It looks for interesting inmate stories, “staff stories, things of interest concerning jail and the roles of the criminal justice system,” Schechter said.

People with the show first contacted the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office in midspring to ask about filming in the jail, Schechter said.

Over the next several months, jail officials and the “Lockup” crew finalized the contract and negotiated parameters of what could and couldn’t be done.

“What we’re hoping for is to get some positive recognition for our staff and the hard work they do inside the building every day,” he said. “There are 100 good things that go on behind these walls every day, but the public never gets to see them.”

He said the jail hopes to use it as a recruitment tool – for detention deputies and patrol officers, not inmates.

The “Lockup” crew was spotted on a closed-circuit television monitor from Judge Joe Kisner’s courtroom Wednesday for inmates’ first appearances. A cameraman and a boom microphone operator were seen on the screen before another woman asked where they could stand without being seen.

Schechter said the crew films six days a week, from Monday to Saturday, and works 12-hour days. Two detention deputies accompany the crew at all times, Schechter said.

“Lockup” will pay for the overtime incurred by the two deputy escorts, but that will be the only compensation the jail receives for allowing the crews in.

All of the inmates and staff featured in the show have signed releases allowing the crew to film them, Schechter said.

The crew will be back for a week in mid-December to film some follow-up material, he said.

For more information on the show, visit its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/msnbclockup.

This story was originally published September 23, 2015 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Prison documentary TV show ‘Lockup’ filming in Sedgwick County Jail."