Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville (LRC Public Information)
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 requirement for juveniles accused of violent offenses, arguing that the decision should remain at the discretion of a judge.
A floor amendment from Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, failed. It would have clarified that the district judge would make the decision on “whether to further detain the child or to release the child to the court-designated worker for the intake process.”
On the floor Tuesday, Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Paducah, who presented the bill on the Senate side, called that amendment “unnecessary.”
Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, said there was a “lot to like” in the bill, and “I believe that the heart of this bill is in the right place.”
However, she took issue with the mandatory pre-trial detention component.
“Sometimes our young people do need to be detained,” Chambers Armstrong said. “And currently, our law lets those closest to the facts in a particular case make that determination. Judges have discretion.”
Sen. John Schickel, R-Union, said the detention part of the bill “has to do with violent thugs.”
“The public demands,” he said, “that people be held accountable for violent crimes.”
Among the bill’s provisions:
Allocating $17 million for renovation of a 40-bed Jefferson County detention center
Allocating $2 million for operational costs associated with the facility
Allocating $5.8 million for transportation costs
Allocating $9.6 million for Department of Juvenile Justice staffing needs.
Holding parents accountable for truancy.
Making sure violent children in detention are evaluated by a mental health provider.
Juveniles who are accused of a violent felony offense “shall” be held in a secure juvenile detention facility for up to 48 hours, pending a detention hearing.
Last week, the Senate passed two other juvenile justice bills aimed at boosting security and supporting salary increases in the justice system as well as having a third party audit the system.
The focus on juvenile justice this session comes after reports of heightened violence in Kentucky’s juvenile detention centers.
McKenna Horsley contributed to this report.?
]]>