Officials with Beshear’s administration ask committee members for funding and new laws to help Juvenile Justice System

FRANKFORT, KY. (WTVQ) — As all eyes continue to focus on the rise in violence inside juvenile detention facilities across the state, Governor Beshear’s administration is calling on lawmakers to help fix the troubled system.

Those with the administration placing blame on a lack of funding and staffing shortages throughout the system mainly in detention facilities, it comes as HB3 is expected to be considered on Wednesday, a bill that aims to make changes to the juvenile justice system.

State leaders Tuesday, testifying in front of the House Budget Review Subcommittee on Justice on the challenges the department is currently facing, among them, staffing shortages that John Hicks, the Executive Cabinet Secretary and, State Budget Director says are unacceptable, “these acts of violence and these interruptions not only cause harm but they interrupt for example the educational facilities, the six hours of education that they want to have, that we want to have in those detention centers.”

Recently, Governor Andy Beshear implemented changes to the system, including equipping workers with protective gear, that Representative Patrick Flannery says were necessary.

“I was really surprised that the employees lacked a lot of these defensive tools to utilize, to protect themselves and they are being utilized now as far as I know,” added Rep. Flannery.

Hicks also spoke on how much money is needed to help fund these facilities and for the next year as well.

“It’s about just short of 20 million in the operating budget and fiscal 24 a bout 26 million on the capital side for juvenile detention centers, and we’re also recommending the 30 million on the adult correctional institutional staffing,” he also said.

Adding that they also need a statute to help manage youth inside the facilities, while also actively recruiting.

“One, we would like to see a statute that gives, that qualifies these youth detainees for bail. We have it for adults, we don’t have it for youth. If there’s a youth who is being tried as an adult, they get bail. Secondly, we would like to remove status offenders and class B misdemeanors from detention period and so that’s including for violation of court order. Some of the reasons that some of these individuals are detained is because they failed to appear,” said Hicks.

The House Standing Committee on the Judiciary is meeting tomorrow to consider HB3.