Kentucky Officials Ask Lawmakers for $45 Million and New Laws to Fix Juvenile Justice System

Governor Andy Beshear’s administration is asking lawmakers for about $45 million, as well as changes to state laws, to help fix the troubled Kentucky Juvenile Justice Department.

On Tuesday, government officials told the House Budget Subcommittee that it is time for the General Assembly to bar the detention of young people charged with minor offenses such as persistent absenteeism and persistent running away, as well as class B offenses.

Legislators tried to end the practice of incarcerating low-level juvenile offenders in 2014 with a 2014 Senate bill, but some judges fought back. As of January 10, there were 33 teenagers in government juvenile detention centers charged with a class B misdemeanor or lesser offences.

Lawmakers should also change the law to allow young people charged with more serious crimes known as state offenders to be considered for pre-trial bail, just like adults, state officials said.

“If there is a young man who is tried as an adult, he gets bail. But a young man who is not being tried as an adult cannot be released on bail,” explained Budget Director John Hicks of the House panel in charge of financial oversight of the justice system.

And Hicks and DJJ Commissioner Vicki Reid have requested about $45 million over the next two years for pay increases for youth workers in juvenile detention centers to help promote recruitment and retention; hire more staff in general; improve physical security, such as perimeter fencing and guard posts at entrances; start the planning process for the construction of two more detention centres; and make other improvements.

A year ago, young workers in the state’s eight detention centers started with $30,000, but Hicks said few people were applying for the job. After a series of raises approved by Beshear and the legislature, the starting salary jumped to $50,000 this month, which we hope will prove more attractive, he said.

The Beshear administration is also requesting $30 million a year to increase the starting wages of corrections officers at state prisons to $50,000, which is the same as wages for youth workers at detention centers.

The story goes on

“As chief budget officer, I can assure you the money is there,” Hicks told lawmakers.

Committee chairman, Rep. Patrick Flannery, R-Olive Hill, made no promises. The House Judiciary Committee is expected to hear Wednesday’s GOP proposal, Bill 3, which would make some changes to the juvenile justice system, including reopening a $8.9 million juvenile detention center in downtown Louisville.

After Tuesday’s hearing, Flannery told reporters he supports the Beshear administration’s efforts to help youth workers at juvenile detention centers self-defense with pepper spray and tasers and train Department of Corrections officers who manage adult inmates.

“We need to do a few things to fix what’s going on, as well as help employees become safer and find ways to make the system work. It’s been very broken lately,” Flannery said. “I think people have the right to defend themselves.”

Beshear, who is running for re-election in November, has been on the defensive in recent months following riots and attacks on multiple DJJ properties across the state.

The Herald-Leader reported that DJJ’s chronic understaffing over the years has led to a climate of violence and neglect, with both staff and youth saying they don’t feel safe. In some cases, institutions kept young people locked in their cells as a tool of control.

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