Lawmaker proposes $6.5 million in funding to reopen youth detention center in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Staffing shortages, mismanagement, and a budget shortfall were just a few reasons why the city of Louisville voted to shut down the juvenile jail in 2019.

Now, there's hope one could return.

Kentucky Rep. Kevin Bratcher, R-29, is proposing a bill that would call for spending $6.5 million to reopen a youth detention center in Louisville. The center would be state-run and maintained by the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Bratcher presented the draft to the Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee in a meeting Thursday morning. He proposes using $3.5 million to either retrofit the Jefferson County Youth Detention Center or renovate a different facility to hold 40 beds. Two million dollars would be spent on operating costs, and another $1 million for a pilot program focused on outpatient cognitive behavior therapy.

"This isn't just about putting kids in jail," Bratcher said. "This is about taking kids and giving them a second chance."

Right now, juveniles accused of crimes are taken to the state-run Jefferson Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Lyndon, before being transported to a facility in a different county.

Lyndon's mayor says there have been a number of incidents at the facility.

"The riot and the fire and an escape most recently," Brent Hagan, mayor of Lyndon, said.

Hagan continued to say that the center is overcrowded and under-staffed.

"Many of the staff members would call into work, or some were assaulted and had to take sick leave and not able to work," Hagan said.

"That is being overburdened with too many juveniles," said Bratcher. "And the way they're running it is just a joke. And so we need a fresh start."

Metro Council President David James, D-6, told WDRB News that he supports a proposal that would reopen a youth jail.

"It's a great idea and I'm looking forward to it because we have to do something other than what we're doing right now," James said.

James was president of Metro Council when the city voted to cut funding for Louisville's troubled juvenile jail in 2019. The city was facing a budget shortfall and closing the only county-run youth jail in the state saved about $9 million.

He supports the city partnering with the state to provide services for troubled teens inside a Louisville-located juvenile detention center, as long as the state operates the facility.

"The city does not want to be in the business of youth detention," James said.

Meanwhile, Bratcher believes that the votes will be there in the House and Senate to fund the facility. The next legislative session starts in two months.

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