juvenile detention
Beshear signs two juvenile justice bills
Gov. Andy Beshear signed into law on Monday two bills passed by the legislature aimed at improving Kentucky’s juvenile justice system. The first, House Bill 3, allocates around $20 million to renovate and operate a Jefferson County Youth Detention Center and a facility in Lyndon in Jefferson County. It will also mandate detention for the […]
Bill mandating detention, opening crime records of some juveniles has cleared both chambers
FRANKFORT — A Republican-backed bill that would reopen a juvenile detention center in Louisville and open some minors’ confidential records has now cleared both chambers of the Kentucky legislature. House Bill 3 passed the House in late February and the Senate on Tuesday along party lines, 29-7. Democrats argued unsuccessfully against the bill’s mandatory detention […]
Two juvenile justice bills advance in Kentucky Senate. Here’s what they say.
Two Senate bills aimed at addressing Kentucky’s juvenile justice issues cleared the Senate Appropriations and Revenue committee unanimously on Wednesday. The first, SB162, would allot millions of dollars to the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) for salaries, retention, new workers, security upgrades and more – among other things. Those price tags are: $3.2 million for […]
Juvenile justice bill passes House, would open some minors’ now-confidential records
FRANKFORT —A Republican-backed bill that would reopen a juvenile detention center in Louisville passed the House 79-18 hours after it passed a House committee Tuesday morning. It may now go to the Senate for a vote. Members of the House Standing Committee On Appropriations And Revenue voted 20-2 – with two passes – to advance House […]
EJ was in middle school when he entered Kentucky Juvenile Justice
When Edward “EJ” LaGantta was arrested for the first time, he was in middle school. Not yet a teenager, he was arrested after being in a fight with a white boy. Louisville’s LaGantta, who is Black, went into juvenile detention for the first of five times, including for truancy. The white boy, LaGantta heard, went […]
Beshear’s juvenile detention plans include bump in starting salary, building new facilities
Gov. Andy Beshear has announced an increase in starting pay for staff in youth detention centers and unveiled a proposal to build two new facilities to house juveniles. Those and other changes outlined by Beshear on Thursday come amid criticism from Republican lawmakers about the administration’s handling of unsafe and sometimes violent conditions in the […]
Lawmakers ask about understaffing, violence in Kentucky’s juvenile detention centers
After lawmakers questioned administration officials about outbreaks of violence in the state’s understaffed juvenile detention centers Thursday, Senate Judiciary Chairman Whitney Westerfield said he welcomed administration actions but “a lot of it comes a little too late.” In recent weeks, law enforcement responded to a riot at a juvenile detention center in Adair County amid […]