Metro Councilmembers question LMDC officials about string of recent inmate deaths

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Mayor Greg Fischer's Office announced a possible pay raise for corrections officers Wednesday as a Metro Council committee discussed the recent deaths in the jail.

LMDC leadership, the FOP president and the ACLU of Kentucky answered questions from the committee about how the jail got here, how the deaths happened and how the council can help.

The meeting started with a controversial statement, the jail's director saying he didn't know how many inmates died in custody this year.

"I don't have the number of deaths in custody for 2021, but I'll get that to you," Director Dwayne Clark said.

That opening sentence started the tension between the Metro Council Public Safety committee and LMDC's leadership Wednesday afternoon. Clark then described last week's three inmate deaths and what the jail knew about the events. The first question from the council was why didn't Clark know the number of deaths for the year.

"When you start out with not knowing how many people lost their lives in your custody over the course of the year, I would think that'd be a number that haunted me if I were in your shoes," said Councilman Mark Fox, D-13. "I think I would know what that number is every waking moment of every day."

Clark claimed afterward he didn't want to misspeak.

"I'm reasonably sure it's only four," he said. "I want to give the correct answer. I don't want to give an about number."

Metro Corrections clarified later there are four total deaths of inmates for 2021, with three happening last week.

FOP President Daniel Johnson claimed there's a correlation with the staffing shortage and the deaths.

"If we had 10 people working on that dorm side unit, that person might still be alive today," he said.

But Metro Corrections said the staffing and deaths can't be directly linked.

"Unfortunately, people, they're going to pass away," LMDC Assistant Director Steve Durham said. "I hate it ... And when it happens, we can look back and see what can we do to improve on this and make things better. All of us expect that this will not happen, but we know it's going to. It's sad."

The ACLU of Kentucky suggested to the council an effort to reduce the population of the jail. One way would be to lower or eliminate cash bonds for low level offenders.

"That is what we asking to be done today," said Kungu Njuguna, policy strategist from the ACLU of Kentucky. "People are dying, and we can save them."

While the meeting was going on, Fischer's office announced a tentative agreement with the union to give an 8% raise to all sworn officers and boost the starting pay for officers from about $35,505 a year to about $44,345 a year.

Johnson said he's skeptical the members will take the offer because it doesn't help with retention.

"It brings in people coming off the street making very close to what people who have been there for 10 years are making," he said.

Next, the members of the union will vote on Fischer's proposal.

Related Stories: