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A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION expressing serious concerns regarding the 1
operations of the Department of Juvenile Justice. 2
WHEREAS, in January 2020, Louisville Metro closed its juvenile detention facility 3
as a result of cutting its budget. Following closure of the Louisville facility, Louisville 4
Metro sent its juvenile offenders to the Jefferson County Regional Detention Center that 5
was operated by the Department of Juvenile Justice near the suburban city of Lyndon 6
under an agreement with Louisville Metro. According to officials of the Justice and 7
Public Safety Cabinet and the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Lyndon facility was not 8
designed or equipped to handle violent juvenile offenders; and 9
WHEREAS, the former supervisor at the Lyndon facility described the environment 10
as very dangerous, the housing of juveniles as being the equivalent to the treatment of 11
animals, and serious injuries to employees. He left his supervisor position because he did 12
not feel safe. Other witnesses asserted there were violations of federally mandated staff-13
to-youth ratios, creating an environment in which juveniles were able to take over the 14
facility and riot. Whistleblowers urged that the Lyndon facility be closed because of riots, 15
fights, assaults, and sexual activity between juveniles. The Lyndon facility was closed in 16
November 2022, after multiple incidents of rioting, employee injuries, fires started using 17
a contraband lighter smuggled into the facility, and the escape of one juvenile into a 18
nearby residential neighborhood. The juveniles housed in that facility were transferred to 19
other state-operated juvenile justice detention facilities; and 20
WHEREAS, riots disrupted the McCracken Regional Juvenile Detention Center 21
twice in 2 weeks in the summer of 2020, injuring one Department of Juvenile Justice 22
employee and resulting in substantial damage to the facility; and 23
WHEREAS, in August 2022, violence at the Warren Regional Juvenile Detention 24
Center reportedly caused significant damage to the facility when juveniles climbed on 25
sinks and commodes, damaged ceilings, and committed random vandalism; and 26
WHEREAS, there have been reports of gang violence by juvenile offenders in 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 940
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multiple detention facilities, and reports of serious violations of the constitutional and 1
statutory rights of juveniles, causing valuable staff to end their employment and report 2
their concerns to the media. Routine violations of federally mandated staff-to-juvenile 3
ratios endanger both staff and juveniles and expose the Commonwealth to liability; and 4
WHEREAS, both the Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary and the Legislative 5
Oversight and Investigations Committee of the General Assembly heard testimony 6
regarding the conditions of the juvenile justice detention facilities in Kentucky during the 7
2022 Interim. Following the October 13, 2022, meeting of the Legislative Oversight and 8
Investigations Committee, responses to requests made to the Justice and Public Safety 9
Cabinet for additional information and documentation were neither prompt nor complete, 10
leading to promises that subpoenas would have to be served upon the Cabinet to obtain 11
basic information; and 12
WHEREAS, on November 11, 2022, a riot broke out at the Adair Regional Juvenile 13
Detention facility when one juvenile assaulted a staff member, confiscated his facility 14
keys, and released other juveniles from their cells. The staff member sustained life-15
threatening injuries and was air-lifted to a hospital out of the area for treatment. Several 16
other staff members were injured, as were several juveniles, one of whom was severely 17
beaten. A female juvenile was sexually assaulted by multiple male juveniles; and 18
WHEREAS, on November 30, 2022, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court 19
expressed his deep concerns in a letter to Governor Beshear stating, "The recent violent 20
incidents at the centers in Adair and Warren counties point to systemic failures that are 21
inflicting further damage on an already vulnerable population of detained youth"; and 22
WHEREAS, the Chief Justice acknowledged the role of state court judges who 23
favor incarceration of even low-level juvenile offenders to other pretrial detention 24
options, but emphatically stated, "the consistent inability to protect the safety of youth 25
and staff in our juvenile detention centers falls squarely on the shoulders of the 26
Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ)"; and 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 940
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WHEREAS, on December 1, 2022, "the Governor ordered the Department of 1
Juvenile Justice to open a female-only detention center in Campbell County" effective 2
December 7. On December 15, 2022, the Governor issued a press release in which he 3
"outlined a new system for the Department of Juvenile Justice to operate three high-4
security detention centers for male juveniles 14 years of age or older who have been 5
charged with offenses indicating a higher potential for violent, disruptive behavior" with 6
January, 2023 as "the target date for the change"; 7
NOW, THEREFORE, 8
Be it resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of 9
Kentucky, the House of Representatives concurring therein: 10
Section 1. An immediate response legislative work group is created, consisting 11
of four members of the Senate, one of whom shall be a member of the minority party, 12
appointed by the President of the Senate, and four members of the House of 13
Representatives, one of whom shall be a member of the minority party, appointed by the 14
Speaker of the House of Representatives. Up to four additional non-voting members may 15
be appointed by each chamber. 16
Section 2. The purpose of the work group is to: 17
(1) Gather information to: 18
(a) Determine the need for the state to operate a Louisville juvenile detention 19
facility; 20
(b) Determine the staffing and administrative structure of the Department of 21
Juvenile Justice to adequately care for employees, juveniles, the facilities, and 22
the community; and 23
(c) Understand the operational breakdown of juvenile facilities across the 24
Commonwealth that has resulted in a life-threatening work and corrections 25
environment; 26
(2) Develop necessary policy to: 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 940
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(a) Ensure a safe working environment for staff and a safe corrections 1
environment for juveniles; 2
(b) Provide Department of Juvenile Justice employees trauma support 3
independent of the current administrative structure and provide an 4
independent ombudsman to hear grievances; 5
(c) Assign oversight of executive branch implementation to the appropriate 6
legislative committee and assign report dates; and 7
(d) Address other needs related to the Department of Juvenile Justice as found by 8
the work group; 9
(3) Determine if the need exists to: 10
(a) Place the operations of the Department of Juvenile Justice under the 11
Department of Corrections; and 12
(b) Recommend a longer-term study to evaluate the coordination of juvenile, 13
county, state, and federal inmate corrections to benefit the Commonwealth 14
and the taxpayer; and 15
(4) Report its findings to the Legislative Research Commission no later than February 16
7, 2023. 17
Section 3. This honorable body urges the executive and judicial branches of the 18
Commonwealth to respond promptly and fully to requests from the committees and 19
members of the General Assembly for information and documentation necessary to 20
address the serious deficiencies in the facilities operated by the Department of Juvenile 21
Justice, and the policies and programming developed by the department for managing 22
detained juvenile offenders in the Commonwealth. The goal of pretrial detention must be 23
to protect juveniles in the temporary custody of the Commonwealth, the Department of 24
Juvenile Justice employees who work within the system, and the rights of all involved. 25
Section 4. The Clerk of the Senate is directed to transmit a copy of this 26
Resolution to the Governor, the Secretary of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, and 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 940
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the Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court. 1