Key members of Gov. Andy Beshear's administration on Tuesday urged lawmakers to pump more money into Kentucky's troubled juvenile detention system to shore up staffing and security.
John Hicks, the governor's executive cabinet secretary, presented a series of funding requests totaling about $45 million over the next two years for the state Department of Juvenile Justice.
Speaking to a House budget subcommittee, Hicks said additional money is needed to hire more staff and to sustain pay raises aimed at attracting people to work at juvenile detention centers.
“If we don’t have more workers, we’re not going to solve this problem, period,” he said.
To bolster security, additional funding is needed for perimeter fencing, security posts and other upgrades at youth detention centers, Hicks said. He also requested money for transportation services and to begin planning to build two more detention centers.
Hicks, who also serves as state budget director, assured lawmakers that "the money’s there” for the additional appropriations, pointing to the state's massive budget surplus.
The state's juvenile justice system has struggled to house increasing numbers of youths charged with violent offenses. The result has been a string of assaults, riots and escapes, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader, which has reported extensively on the problems.
The issue has risen to the forefront of this year's legislative session. Kentucky is still in the first year of its two-year budget cycle, but the Republican-dominated legislature can reopen the budget to take care of pressing needs.
Asked about the Beshear administration's juvenile justice requests, House Speaker David Osborne said: “We’re going to continue to work through those issues. It would have been very helpful if they’d been proactive on the issue, as opposed to trying to do things after the crisis developed.”
A bill introduced by Republican state Rep. Kevin Bratcher would appropriate $8.9 million to renovate and reopen the Jefferson County Youth Detention Center in Kentucky's largest metro area.
Osborne agreed Tuesday that improved pay will help the situation, but he blamed management decisions in recent years that he said “continue to haunt" the juvenile justice system.
“I believe that based on what we’ve seen so far, the core of the problem is that it’s not been run properly,” the Republican speaker said in an interview.
A group of Kentucky lawmakers recently called for new leadership in the juvenile justice agency, saying someone from outside the system should be brought in to make changes. The legislators also pushed for independent reviews of the juvenile detention system.
Beshear, a Democrat, hired current DJJ commissioner Vicki Reed in 2021 after firing her predecessor. The governor has expressed confidence in her commitment to “getting it fixed.”
Hicks also offered policy recommendations during his presentation to lawmakers.
He urged them to prohibit detention of youths charged with lower-level misdemeanors or with minor status offenses — such as habitual truancy. Also, juveniles charged with more serious crimes should be considered for pre-trial release on bail, he said.
The back-and-forth between lawmakers and Beshear’s administration comes as the state-run juvenile detention system has been plagued by a rash of violence.
A riot broke out last year at a detention center, leaving several young people and staff wounded. Order was restored after state police and other law enforcement officers entered the facility. More recently, three juveniles kicked and punched staff during an attack at a detention center.
Beshear responded with a series of policy changes to try to defuse the risks of violence in detention centers. He announced that male juveniles will be assigned to facilities based on the severity of their offenses. Three high-security juvenile detention centers were designated to house teenage male offenders charged with serious crimes. The governor ordered the opening of the state’s first female-only juvenile detention center.
In other actions, the governor increased starting pay for detention center staff and said “defensive equipment” — pepper spray and Tasers — will be provided for the first time so detention center workers can defend themselves and others if attacked.
