LOUISVILLE, Ky. — To address issues within the Department of Juvenile Justice, state officials are asking lawmakers for funding over the next two years to maintain the governor’s recent salary increases, hire more people and upgrade buildings. 

What You Need To Know

  • State officials and lawmakers met Tuesday to discuss the Department of Juvenile Justice 

  • The department has been under scrutiny after reports of violence at facilities  

  • Officials are asking lawmakers for funding to maintain salary increases, hire more people and upgrade buildings 

DJJ Commissioner Vicki Reed and State Budget Director John Hicks gave a presentation to a legislative committee Tuesday afternoon about the department that has come under scrutiny following violence at facilities. 

Their presentation showed that in the last 11 years, the population of youth charged with felonies in Kentucky detention centers has increased from around 43% to 72%, due in part to a 2014 law meant to divert youth charged with low-level crimes from detention. 

According to the presentation, staff report youth are now “substantially more prone to violence.”

"That’s just a cultural, societal issue that is really what’s causing some of the disruptions and difficulties in our detention centers, which are exacerbated by the lack of staffing," said Hicks.   

Rep. Patrick Flannery, R-Olive Hill, told reporters the system has been "very broken recently." 

“We’ve had some very serious incidents and fortunately no one’s been killed, but it really has been that serious," he said. "We’ve had some very violent attacks. It’s been almost on a weekly basis the last several months." 

The Lexington Herald-Leader has reported on statements from staff about youth being confined in their cells at length due to staffing issues. 

"The fact is the kids in some of our facilities are not what we call moving as much, and I hate that," said Reed. "I don’t like kids to spend one more second in a cell than they have to, but when you don’t have enough staff to safely move a group of kids from here to there without worrying that either a youth or staff is going to get hurt, we’re having to have more in either the pods or in the cell areas."

State officials are also asking lawmakers to change state law to allow youth detainees to qualify for bail and keep youth charged with certain misdemeanors like violating court orders from being detained. 

Wednesday a committee will review House Bill 3, which calls for reopening the former youth detention center in downtown Louisville.

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