LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Some lawmakers want juveniles from Louisville convicted of violent crimes to have a detention center closer to their homes.

The Louisville Metro Youth Detention Center was closed in 2019 when David James was the Metro Council president. Council pulled all city funding and decided to close the youth detention center.

But Wednesday, James reversed course.

"The council decided to close the youth detention center. In retrospect, was that a good idea? probably not," he said.

A question from the Department of Juvenile Justice pointed to the state's ability to use a building the state doesn't own. On Tuesday, it was confirmed that Mayor Craig Greenberg has given his blessing for DJJ to operate the facility and that the city would help with wrap around services. 

Rep. Kevin Bratcher, R-Louisville, the sponsor of House Bill 3, said he's asking for $8.9 million to revamp the juvenile detention facility in Louisville so it can reopen for teens under 18 who have committed serious crimes.

"They don’t know where our kids come from in Louisville," House Majority Whip Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, said. "We do. We need our kids home."

James agreed and said transporting Louisville juveniles accused of serious violent crime two hours away to Adair County is "just not working well."

There are increasing reports of attacks and more violence in Kentucky's youth detention facilities, and James said there's an urgency to this debate.

"We are in a time where we have an immediate need," he said.

Bratcher is offering HB 3 as part of the solution. Along with $8.9 million for Louisville's juvenile detention center, it would also require youth arrested for violent crimes to held up to 48 hours in order to have a detention hearing before a judge and have a mental health evaluation.

"I believe that those two things are very important for our most troubled children to try to get their lives turned around," Bratcher said.

The bill also adds possible repercussions for parents, if they are found to not be helping their child complete a diversion program. The law would also call for a juvenile's records to be open to the public for five years, if they're convicted of a violent crime.

Rep. Keturah Herron (D-Louisville) is against opening juvenile records.

"Currently, juvenile statute allows for education, police officers and courts to already have access to said records," Herron said. "So opening this up, I feel like could be more harmful."

Other opposition on the bill included objections to spending money to re-open a facility and not spend more on prevention.

Nemes said it's important that something is done soon.

"I want to say that we are trying to thread the needle," he said. "We have got to save our kids. Our communities, our families, and our people are broken. We're broken. "

Additional concerns for opening the juvenile detention facility in Louisville include staffing. Kentucky already faces a dire shortage of staff to operate juvenile facilities safely.

Bratcher said he hopes to propose another bill that would address what he calls "internal issues at DJJ," but it is not clear what that measure would entail.

Louisville Democrats Rep. Herron and Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville, are also working on three bills that would create a bill of rights for the juveniles, create citizen review boards for the juvenile detention centers and create a separate DJJ fund with $9.6 million.

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