LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer outlined his plan on Monday to implement oversight and an independent review of the Metro Department of Corrections.
In a news release, Fisher said he will hire two new Public Services Assistant Chiefs, and he plans to hire Gary Raney, who is an expert in jail deaths.
The new Assistant Chiefs – Amy Hess and Ron Heady – will serve under Public Services Chief Matt Golden.
Hess is a former FBI Special Agent and served as the city's Chief of Public Safety. She was the highest-ranking woman in the FBI, when she retired in 2019.
Heady is a 23-year veteran of the Louisville Metro Police Department, who retired in 2020. He will focus on accountability and disciplinary concerns at Metro Corrections. His experience with LMPD includes acting as a Hostage Negotiation Team Commander, investigator in Professional Standards, trainer and SWAT Team Sergeant.
Hess and Heady will focus on six areas of concern:
- Inmate medical care
- Working with partners to reduce the number of inmates being held
- Recruitment and staffing
- Policy, training and curriculum development
- Leadership development and succession planning
- Accountability and discipline
Raney will conduct an in-depth of three recent suicides at LMDC, as well as Corrections’ policies, procedures, practices, training, and equipment. He is a retired Sheriff of Boise, Idaho, and has served as Vice Chair of the Board of the National Institute of Corrections and a U.S. Department of Justice consultant to criminal justice organizations around the country.
Metro Corrections is also reviewing procedures and equipment with Wellpath, its medical contractor. The review will include Wellpath checking its suicide risk assessment tools. It will also conduct one-on-one reviews with inmates housed in single cells and increasing contact with individuals that have been in custody for less than 10 days.
Six inmates have died in less than three months at Louisville Metro Corrections. Louisville Metro Council passed a "no confidence" vote in committee on Feb. 9 for LMDC Director Dwayne Clark. Council doesn't have the power to remove Clark. Only the mayor can fire him, but the vote sent a clear message.
"I'm glad the administration is doing something to improve the operations of Metro Corrections, but what I would say to that is: why do we need the people there if we have to bring in other people to do their jobs?" Louisville Metro Council President David James said.
As part of the reforms, LMDC Director Dwayne Clark has been sending reports to Metro Council every two weeks.
In Clark's most recent report on Feb. 11, he said the population at LMDC reached 1,665 in September. Since then he has been working with the Kentucky Department of Corrections to move state-convicted inmates out of the jail including 22 women and 50 men last week.
To ease overcrowding, Clark said the courts are working to eliminate the number of low-level bench warrants that drive up jail admissions. He said the County Attorney’s Office, the Administrative Office of the Courts, and the Circuit Court Clerk, have identified 14,000 low-level bench warrants that are older than five-years to be purged.
Other items Clark said he is working on include increasing staffing levels with a new class of recruits, having daily medical reviews of high-need inmates and educating staff about identifying inmates at-risk for suicide.
Related Stories:
- Committee's 'no confidence' vote in Metro Corrections leadership heads to Metro Council
- Judge calls recent deaths at Metro Corrections 'symptoms of consistent failures'
- Half of Metro Corrections inmates who died in the past 3 months died by suicide
- Sixth inmate dies at Louisville Metro Corrections in 3 months
- Metro council members call for 'no confidence' vote in Louisville jail leadership
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