LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky's Justice Cabinet is making repairs to a juvenile detention facility in Lyndon, after it was shut down to detainees at the end of 2022.
The Jefferson Regional Juvenile Detention Center, JRJDC, on La Grange Road originally opened in 2019 after the Louisville Metro Youth Detention Services was closed.
The JRJDC had problems with fights, fires and escapes. The justice cabinet said youth housed there were relocated in November, after the a test of the fire alarm was in question.
On Monday night, the Justice Cabinet said three juveniles at the Warren Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Bowling Green, Ky. conducted an "orchestrated" attack on staff.
In December, Gov. Andy Beshear announced plans to revamp Kentucky’s troubled juvenile detention system by assigning male teens to facilities based on the severity of their offenses, or age.
Under this plan, the Lyndon facility is expected to be used for only juveniles under 14 or males with low level offenses. Beshear announced last month that state detention centers in Adair, Fayette and Warren counties will get a high-security designation for teens 14 and older with more serious crimes.
The Justice Cabinet said males were separated as of Jan. 12. The Governor said there are some instances were the two groups would mix when waiting for court hearings. For more details on exceptions click here.
All juvenile females were separated as of Dec. 1 of last year to a detention center in Campbell County, the state's first all-female facility for youth detainees.
Rep. Kevin Bratcher, R-Louisville, said Governor Beshear's involvement is welcomed but comes as lawmakers are already working on their own solutions for juvenile justice.
"Just having a 14 and under facility is just kind of a Band-Aid on the problem right now," he said.
In November, Bratcher pitched the idea to use $6.5 million dollars to renovate Louisville's former juvenile jail downtown. A facility that closed in 2019. Now, with the Lyndon facility reopening under Beshear's plan, Bratcher is looking at reworking his bill.
"That facility that he's opening up in Lyndon for 14 and under that's just a necessity right now, but we've got to do an overall plan and we're - it's in the works," Bratcher said.
Four facilities will house male juveniles younger than 14 or those charged with lower-level offenses — Boyd Regional Juvenile Detention Center, Breathitt Regional Juvenile Detention Center, Jefferson Regional Juvenile Detention Center and McCracken Regional Juvenile Detention Center.
Beshear said the new classification system reflects a sobering new reality — that the male population being held in the state’s juvenile detention system has become “significantly more violent.”
It will replace a decades-old regional system that placed juveniles in detention facilities based on where they live. For a system now dealing with more violent youths, that regional model can result in a juvenile charged with murder being housed next to someone held for truancy.
In November, several young people and staff were wounded in the disturbance at the detention center in Adair County. It began when a juvenile assaulted a staff member, took the employee’s keys and released other young people from their cells, state police said. Order was restored after state police troopers and other law enforcement officers entered the facility in south-central Kentucky.
In October, there was a riot at the juvenile detention center in Ashland — previously undisclosed to the public — where some of the two dozen youths choked and attacked staff with a broom, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. One employee had the tip of a finger cut off during the riot.
Juveniles held at state detention centers receive education, counseling and recreational opportunities. But the outbreaks of violence have caused disruptions in those services.
It's unclear when the Lyndon facility will complete repairs and reopen to juvenile detainees.
Related stories:
- Beshear says male juveniles in Kentucky now separated by crime over multiple detention centers
- Beshear announces changes, improvements to Kentucky's juvenile justice facilities
- Lawmaker proposes $6.5 million in funding to reopen youth detention center in Louisville
- Metro Council hears budget proposal for new Youth Transitional Services Screening Center
- State's new Regional Juvenile Detention Center to open in Jefferson County
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