On Friday, the Kentucky Senate passed a resolution to create a legislative workgroup to study the issues in the state’s juvenile justice centers.
Senate President Pro Tem David Givens (R-Greenburg) filed the resolution, citing the reported issues in the juvenile justice system throughout the state of Kentucky.
Reports over the past few months from the Lexington Herald-Leader showed a series of riots and the sexual assault of a teen girl in an incident at the Adair County facility. The facilities were also allegedly understaffed and did not comply with the staffing requirements of the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act.
“A crisis is not the adequate word for what’s going on here,” Givens said. “Crisis doesn’t even start to touch the depth of this problem.”
The workgroup will take four members from the House and Senate — with one member coming from the minority party. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House will choose these representatives.
Once assembled, the group will examine if there’s a need to operate a juvenile detention facility in Louisville, examine the staffing and administrative structure of the Department of Juvenile Justice, and understand the breakdown of juvenile facilities across the Commonwealth.
In December, Gov. Andy Beshear issued an order to make changes to the system that included operating three high-security detention centers for males 14 and older convicted of more serious crimes.
Another change included making the Campbell County Regional Juvenile Justice Center an all-female facility in Campbell County, which NKY law enforcement officials and lawmakers say isn’t working.
The issue is that those male juveniles taken into custody must now be transported to an Ashland facility roughly 2.5 hours from Northern Kentucky.
“The biggest concern is, of course, the distance by which we transport,” said Boone County Public Information Officer Phillip Ridgell for the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.
With the resolution passing the Senate, it will now head to the House for consideration.